PUEBLO, Colo. – It isn’t uncommon to find Jose Vitor Leme searching for a quiet place in an arena to FaceTime or WhatsApp his family and friends back home in Brazil prior to competing on The 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast.
He can then be found Instagramming, Snapchatting, posting his rides and communicating with his friends on social media once he is done riding for the night.
Leme is a second-year pro in the PBR, but the 2017 Rookie of the Year is still a bug-eyed rookie when it comes to adjusting to and living in the United States.
The 21-year-old went 6-for-6 to win the 2017 PBR World Finals and finished ahead of all other rookies in the PBR world standings. Therefore, despite having only competed in the United States for less than 10 days, Leme burned his rookie year eligibility by finishing the season ranked within the Top 30.
In fact, Leme hadn’t even competed in a regular-season event in the United States until a Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour stop in Biloxi, Mississippi, in December and then The 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast season-opener in New York earlier this month.
Leme may have made things look easy inside the arena in Las Vegas, but the Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil, native is working through the ups and downs outside of it.
Primarily, Leme admitted to dealing with a little bit of homesickness these last few months since winning a record-setting $416,000 in Las Vegas.
Leme’s family is extremely important to him.
“At the Finals, everything was exciting and new,” Leme said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “After that, I kind of slowed down and realized I was away from family alone and stuff. I couldn’t control some of my own mistakes. Now I am just getting back to where I can control better, focus.”
It isn’t an uncommon struggle either for young bull riders.
2017 World Champion Jess Lockwood admitted to being homesick at times during his championship run, while Eduardo Aparecido, a veteran Brazilian bull rider, struggled last season with being thousands of miles away from home when his father was dealing with clogged arteries in his heart.
Leme has been getting accustomed to life in the United States, and in Decatur, Texas, with the help of his fellow Brazilian bull riders in the locker room, as well as Crimber.
The aspiring World Champion added that he is excited for his girlfriend, Amanda, to visit the United States in the coming months. The two have been dating since 2016.
“My girlfriend just got a visa and she is coming over soon, and that is going to make a big difference I think,” he said.
Leme is 4-for-8 on The 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast and is coming off his best showing of the season thus far in Oklahoma City. Leme rode Voo Doo Too for 85 points and Set ‘em Up Joe for 87 points before bucking off Bad Beagle in 2.44 seconds.
He heads into the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic in Sacramento, California, ranked 17th in the world standings.
Leme has come back to earth after immediately jumping into the world title conversation based upon his performance in Las Vegas.
CBS Sports Network analyst and two-time World Champion Justin McBride said before the season that he was anxious to see what kind of rider Leme would become over the course of a full year.
“I don’t think we have ever seen somebody have a World Finals like that,” McBride said. “That was the best one I have ever seen put together and by a guy that we have never seen before. So I think that is the reason why the expectations are high for the guy. You want to see more of him.”
McBride will be watching closely during the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Saturday night when Leme squares off against Speed Demon (13-2, PBR UTB).
Fans can watch the event exclusively on CBS national television Sunday at noon ET.
Leme rode Mystikal for 87 points during his 15/15 Bucking Battle debut in New York.
Reindiction (2-0, PBR UTB) is waiting for Leme in Round 1 on Friday night.
PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert was also highly impressed by Leme’s World Finals performance, and the PBR co-founder predicted before the season that we will learn about Leme’s resilience as the physical grind of the season goes on.
“At the Global Cup, he wasn’t near as impressive,” Lambert said, referencing Leme’s 2-for-4 showing. “The ground was really, really hard at the Global Cup, and he got slammed really hard right at the whistle, or right after the whistle, and it knocked the starch out of him.
“Every bull rider has to deal with injuries and how they come back. Whether they come back too soon, scared or if they come back great is up to the individual. The frame of mind they are in when they come back is just as important as how they are physically. Every bull rider has to deal with injuries.”
Leme did miss one round of competition in Chicago because of a concussion he sustained attempting to ride GOOD RIDE’s Jailhouse Jr. in New York.
After passing the PBR’s concussion protocol on that Sunday in Chicago, he bounced back by riding Air Bender for 83 points.
“That was a really important ride for me because I have been struggling for the last few rides,” Leme said in Oklahoma City. “I had a concussion and I had to wake up and get back to being the same guy that I was in Vegas.”
Leme explained that he is fine physically through the first three events of 2018 and that nothing is ailing him.
“I am 100 percent physically,” Leme said. “It has been mental, but now I think I am good to go. It has been more being away from my family. I now have a lot of people trying to talk to me and help me make this feel like home.
He later concluded, “I started a little slow, but thank God I got myself back together. I am going to try and finish strong and get that world title.”
