As the “voice of the PBR” for the past 16 years, Justin McKee has traveled the country and brought the sport of bull riding into the living rooms of millions of fans.

It’s a “job” that McKee almost apologizes for. He loves it so much that it doesn’t seem like work.

“It just never gets old,” said McKee, who with wife Jeannie and daughter Kassidy live on a cow ranch in northeastern Oklahoma. “It’s exciting every night.”

McKee has spent the last decade on TV, calling the action of the Built Ford Tough Series on VERSUS (formerly OLN). He arrives in each tour city with a laundry list of things to do before the cameras start rolling.

First, he looks up the history of the bulls which are schedule to compete, finding out when they were out last and what kind of trips they had.

“Then I pull up my own personal history on the bulls,” McKee said. “Thanks to computers, we’ve gotten much more efficient than in the old days when I’d spend all week getting ready.”

McKee also spends extensive time in production meetings and tries to sneak down to the locker room to chat with the bull riders before the show goes live. He also has the production team pull video of bulls and riders that may tie into the program.

His job on air, he said, is straightforward.

“I pretty much just try and tell the story and leave it to the legends in the booth such as (Michael) Gaffney, (Justin) McBride or (J.W.) Hart to analyze the rides,” he said. “I try and lead those guys in the direction that I feel the fans would be interested in. I have a feel for what fans want because I’m such a fan.”

In his on-air experience, McKee has found most of the riders to be good interviews, but mentioned Travis Briscoe and Brendon Clark as two who stand out.

“Brendon Clark is probably the best,” McKee said. “He’s a great communicator; he’s talented and has a finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the PBR.”

In terms of his most memorable calls, he goes back to 2003 when 2000 World Champion Chris Shivers and three-time World Champion Bull Little Yellow Jacket squared off in Colorado Springs, Colo., with $1 million at stake for Shivers. Little Yellow Jacket won the war, bucking off the legend in 2 seconds.

“At that time there was an enormous amount of mainstream press jumping all over that,” said McKee, who when he’s not calling the action can be found competing in steer roping in the PRCA. “Chris was at the peak of his career and so was Little Yellow Jacket. I don’t think we’ve had a bull since then that has captured the imagination and heart of so many people, not just in bull riding but outside, too.”

As far as predicting how this season might wind up, McKee said he put on his swami hat on the air before the season started and predicted J. B. Mauney would be the next World Champion and that Voodoo Child would claim the World Champion Bull title. Both picks are very much alive.

“I thank God everyday that I have a job that allows me to go and travel and see places and be part of such an exciting sport,” he said.

— by Troy Schwindt

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Some classic “McKeeisms” from the sultan of simile:

“Spinning like a weathervane in a hurricane"
“He stuck to that bull like sorghum on the side of a biscuit”
“As gritty as sand in your scrambled eggs”
“Yanked the yeehaw right out of him”
“Bucked off faster than the banker could tell me no”