EZEKIEL MITCHELL

from American Buckle Magazine 2021 Volume 2

TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY

Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com

Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com Ezekiel “Blue” Mitchell is the epitome of the cowboy hero archetype: a young gun with a million-dollar smile forging his own path. The 24-year-old bull rider, currently ranked among the PBR’s top 25 athletes, never thought twice about pursuing his rodeo dreams.

Mitchell, whose sponsors include Ariat International and Full Throttle Energy Drink, might be ranked higher had it not been for a groin injury that kept him from competing for several weeks earlier this year. But the 2021 PBR season isn’t over, and Mitchell isn’t slowing down.

To date, Mitchell boasts career earnings of more than $264,000. In June alone, he took first at the PBR Stockyards Showcase in Fort Worth and also tied for first with fellow cowboy Keyshawn Whitehorse at the PBR Tyron Cute Out in North Carolina. He hit a career high ride earlier this year when he scored a 93 on defending two-time World Champion bull Smooth Operator (Dakota Rodeo/Julie Rosen/Clay Struve/ Chad Berger) at the Pendleton Whisky Invitational.

However, it hasn’t been an easy journey. Like any good cowboy story, his is a tale of unbridled resilience. It won’t cease until long after he achieves the ultimate goal: a PBR World Champion title.

“Whether that journey takes forever or just today, I’m here for it,” he says.

“I Didn’t Choose It, It Chose Me”

Online, there are plenty of articles about Mitchell’s trajectory in rodeo as one of few Black professional bull riders — a quick Google search shows articles from USA Today, GQ Magazine and BBC.com. But Mitchell continues to assert his race hasn’t posed any issues at the top level of competition in bull riding, where ultimately, all that matters is how well someone can ride.

“There aren’t racist people in rodeo,” he says, referring specifically to the community of rodeo insiders he calls family. “There are racist people outside of it, and there’s always going to be racist people. But as far as I’ve seen in my whole career, it’s more so if you can stay on a bull, or whatever part of the rodeo industry you’re in. If you can do that, then it doesn’t really matter. They’re just there to see you do your task.”

Mitchell recognized his calling early on and was determined to pursue it.

“It’s, like, the biggest cliche, but it does feel like that whole deal where they say ‘I didn’t choose it, it chose me,’” he says. “For me, as far as being a cowboy and wanting to be a cowboy and wanting to rodeo, I just always knew that this is where I was heading and was the direction I was going in.” Unlike many of his peers, Mitchell didn’t grow up in a wealthy rodeo family with easy access to bulls and gear. The Texas native split his time between his father’s home in Rockdale and his mother’s in Baytown, alongside 11 siblings.

Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com

"IT'S, LIKE, THE BIGGEST CLICHE, BUT IT DOES FEEL LIKE THAT WHOLE DEAL WHERE THEY SAY 'I DIDN'T CHOOSE IT, IT CHOSE ME"

Throughout his childhood, he passionately followed the sport of bull riding and watched YouTube videos to learn techniques. As a teen, his parents reluctantly allowed him to enter a steer-riding contest put on by his church. After that experience, he began to nurture his talent, even going so far as to construct a mechanical practice bull. At a rodeo camp, he donned a blue cowboy hat that he’d picked up at a garage sale, which earned him the nickname “Blue.”

While attending Hill College in Texas, Mitchell competed for the school’s rodeo team. He then moved on to the PBR circuit. But, like riding a rank bull, it wasn’t easy to stay on top. In 2017, financial troubles put his career on hold. Vice Media explored Mitchell’s experience in a documentary about Black cowboys, in which he opens up about how he used part of his rodeo earnings to pay for repairs to his family home after Hurricane Harvey. As a result, he couldn’t afford to go on the road and compete.

Mitchell says he didn’t particularly like how Vice depicted his struggle. He feels it implied that he harbored a victim mentality wherein he believed his racial background kept him from reaching the top echelon of PBR success, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Really, the only thing that I said that was keeping me from getting there was me and my finances,” he says. “It was just a weird situation that I didn’t particularly like. It opened up a lot of opportunities there to do some better things, but I definitely felt used by the whole deal.”

Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com

Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com

Four years later, his finances are in a much better place. Entrepreneur Max Maxwell watched the documentary and took an interest in Mitchell, later signing on to become the young bull riding phenom’s agent. Eventually, Maxwell invited Mitchell to move to North Carolina and train on a ranch, rent-free.

With the backing and support to succeed, Mitchell was on an upswing. However, in 2020, the global pandemic caused another setback.

“Last year was the year that I was pretty much really finding myself. And I really felt like I had a lot to show for it, that I was coming up. And then everything got canceled kind of blew up in the face of all of us,” he says. “The big thing I got to take away from it all was the fact that anything can happen.”

Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com

Rodeo Culture Goes Mainstream: Leveraging the Power of Social Media

Mitchell is a major player in a wave of rodeo athletes using the power of social media to bring rodeo to mainstream audiences. Young people are seeking out rodeo videos via platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where Mitchell has 84,000 and 304,000 followers respectively. On Snapchat, Mitchell was the subject of a documentary series called “Life by the Horns,” which has nearly 300,000 followers.

“As long as rodeo has been around, it’s actually relatively new to this whole mainstream media kind of thing. So we have to just kind of reach out and make sure that mainstream media can see us more,” he says. “It’s a slow process, but I don’t think it’s gonna be as slow as we think.”

Ultimately, such exposure could make rodeo sports a viable path for anyone, regardless of whether they’ve grown up around rodeos and Western culture.

“My goal in life as of right now is just to make sure that people can get a little look into the sport that I love so much,” he says. “You don’t have to grow up in a Western lifestyle or have this, like, cowboy mentality. You can enjoy it.”

He’s already managed to influence at least one aspiring rodeo athlete: his brother, bull rider Jahmal Moore. Moore currently resides with Mitchell in North Carolina.

"MY GOAL IN LIFE AS OF RIGHT NOW IS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE CAN GET A LITTLE LOOK INTO THE SPORT THAT I LOVE SO MUCH."

-EZEKIEL MITCHELL

Down the line, Mitchell hopes his mainstream appeal will steer him toward a career in entertainment.

“I’ve always wanted to do the whole acting thing. As long as I can remember, I really wanted to be a cowboy. I thought acting was cool. I was really drawn to movies like Tombstone,” he says. “I’ve always thought it’d be cool to play some of those cowboy roles.”

But for now, he’s laser-focused on that PBR World Champion title. But no matter what the future holds, he’ll continue to enjoy the ride.

“For the most part, I always knew that I would end up where I am. It was all about putting in the work to get there,” he says. “I’m just enjoying my dream. And that’s all there really is to it.”