Justin McBride

Outside the Arena with...

Justin McBride

Anyone who follows the sport of bull riding knows the name Justin McBride. World Champion Bull Rider, sports announcer, singer and now the coach of one of the PBR teams. I thought it was time to interview one of the most well-known names in our sport.

By Georgia Akers

Tell us about yourself

I was born in Texas but grew up on a ranch in Mullen, Nebraska. Growing up, we rode anything we could get on — horses, steers you name it. My dad worked on a ranch and several of my family members rode bulls. I competed in the bareback riding and bull riding in high school rodeo, and then went on to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, then joined the PBR when I was 19. I currently live in Whitesboro, Texas, with my wife Jill and two kids Addisen who’s 16 and Jaxsen who’s 12.

Let’s start with your bull riding career. What made you so good?

I could stay on for eight seconds. I learned how to stay on them. I figured out what I needed to do physically and mentally to ride any bull that I got on.

What type of training did you do to stay in shape?

I didn’t do a lot early in my career. I stayed active riding horses and ranching during the week. It wasn’t until a shoulder injury that I started getting into the gym and working hard. Ty Murray showed me a lot of band exercises at the time not many guys were doing it.

The bull riders have become almost rock star status with fans etc. How did you handle it?

I didn’t really care too much about that. I didn’t pay too much attention to it and instead just lived my life.

What bull (s) did you like to get on and why?

I like to get on the short round bulls the best. That’s where you got your separation. A lot of guys can ride long round bulls very few can ride short round bulls and even fewer allow themselves to ride short round bulls.

There wasn’t any that I didn’t want to get on. There are some I knew would be harder to ride than others. But I never tried to go into it thinking “No, I don’t want that one.”

When you started to think about retirement, did you have a plan?

Yeah. I had about 300 head of cattle at the time and a ranch to tend to, so I was going to do that. I had been doing TV, and I knew they would probably use me on that side of things. I had just turned 29, and I had things set up to be able to quit.

Did you ever think about being a stock contractor as some of the other bull riders have?

No. I never had that desire.

How did you transition from world champion bull rider to sports announcer?

Anytime I would have an injury they would put me in the sports booth. Producers kept exposing me to it, and so it was an easy transition. It took some time to improve and get to where I could feel confident doing it.

Do you ever see yourself as being a sports announcer for some other sport? If so which one?

No, I don’t think so. I would like to, but I’m not a play-by-play guy, I’m an analyst. You need to really understand the sport you’re calling to be successful, and I don’t think I have the credentials to call any other sports.

Did you get any training?

Carlos DeMolina was one of the first producers that helped me. Craig Hummer has helped me a lot over years as well.

How do you prepare before an event? What is hardest: sports announcing or being a bull rider? Why?

Definitely Bull rider – it’s dangerous, scary and physically demanding. None of those apply in TV. TV is still tough though, you can have a solid plan but you’re still dealing with a live animal and the plan can quickly go out the window.

A lot of pre-work goes into preparing before an event especially trying to know the bulls. I know all the guys pretty well already. When a new guy shows up you got to get to know him a little bit. Start to know their story and figure out strengths, weaknesses.

Are any of your children interested in western sports? What are they involved in?

They like Western sports. Both Jaxsen and Addisen enjoy riding horses. Jaxsen rides steers and love to rope, but I’m not sure if he will continue riding. He wrestles, plays football and baseball and then Addisen plays softball, volleyball and runs track so they are both pretty busy with conventional sports.

There’s more good bulls today than there’s ever been. There’s always been great bulls, but there are so many 87-90 pointers today it’s not even a comparison

What is your opinion of the riders today?

They are fantastic athletes. It’s a lot more complicated compared to 20 & 30 years ago. A lot of information and resources that didn’t exist even when I was riding. So, it’s very easy for it to get complicated.

What advice would you give a young man who wants to be a bull rider?

Learn the basics and don’t ever stray from them no matter how far he goes.

You are also a musician. Tell us about this career. Type of music, do you play events?

I watched Rio Bravo and love the scene where they’re playing guitars in the jail cell. So one day I went to a pawn shop and bought a guitar. I really just enjoyed sitting around with my buddies having fun. That’s all I wanted to do. I met some people over the years and one thing led to another and Tim DuBois had me come to Nashville and cut a record. It wasn’t anything I ever grew up wanting to be. It was an opportunity to come play music and do what I want. It sort of snowballed into go out and play then get a song out on radio. One day I took a step back and decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life.

You are to be the head coach of the new team the Nashville Stampede which will compete this summer culminating in a “super bowl” in November. What type of coach will you be?

That’s yet to be determined. Everyone has a vision of what they want to be, but you won’t know until you start going. I have a layout on the function and the things I want to instill in our team. We’re all figuring this out together.

What riders would make up your dream team?

The riders that we have on the Nashville Stampede.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I don’t know. Still with my family and hoping to have something to do with bull riding.