LAS VEGAS – Cody Whitney has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars staying atop wild bucking bulls for a living.
This year, though, marks the first time in his decade-long career that he has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which begins its 10-day run in the Nevada desert at 9 p.m. (Central) Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center. It’s the culmination of an outstanding, young career and the realization of a dream.
“Anyone who has ever rodeoed wants to make the NFR, and I’m finally doing that,” said Whitney, 28, of Asher, Okla. “This is a dream come true for me, something that I had hoped to have done a long time ago in my career. But I’m very excited to be going this year.”
Longtime a stalwart at stand-alone bull-riding events, Whitney turned his attention to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association this season with hopes of playing on the grandest stage in the sport. When he wasn’t at a rodeo, his focus was toward Championship Bull Riding, and he made that organization’s finale just a month ago.
Now he’s chasing the big dollars in Las Vegas for the NFR, the premier sporting event in Sin City every December. Nearly 18,000 pack themselves into the arena on the UNLV campus for each go-round so they can watch winners of each go-round win more than $17,000.
Whitney, who qualified for the Professional Bull Riders World Finals for the first time in 2000 at the age of 19, heads into the opening round of the NFR in eighth place in the world standings with nearly $79,000 in regular-season earnings. He won titles in Abilene, Kan., and Pueblo, Colo.,
“I didn’t really get any big wins, but I was able to pick up a lot of checks along the way,” Whitney said. “When you rodeo and go from one event to another, it’s a big deal to be able to cash in here and there.”
And it worked to his advantage. It’s a big deal to finish among the elite in the sport year after year, and Whitney’s proven the ability to do that.
“The big thing at the NFR is to be able to just ride your bulls, take care of your business,” said Whitney, who with his wife, Kori, has a daughter, Lila. “The guy who rides the most bulls will win, and that’s the way it is anywhere you go.”
Over 10 go-rounds, though, it won’t be an easy task. The bulls selected to buck inside the Thomas & Mack Center are the best from the 2009 season, just like their jockeys. As the showcase event in ProRodeo, it’s the toughest cowboys against the baddest bulls, and that’s just the way Whitney likes it.
“I don’t worry about what bull I draw, because it’s just one jump at a time,” he said. “I’ve ridden some rank bulls before, and I’ve fallen off some of the easy ones. That’s the way it goes in this game.
“But the chance to ride good bulls is the reason we do this. That and the money, of course.”
The money is a big thing. In rodeo, dollars equal points, and the contestant with the most money in each event at the end of the NFR will win the world championship.
“I’m excited about going to the finals,” Whitney said. “But I have to take care of my end of things. This isn’t enjoying the bright lights of Las Vegas. This is a business trip, and that’s why I’m there, to take care of business.”
