NEW YORK – Shane Proctor heard the 8-second buzzer go off on Friday night as he was finishing up his 81-point ride on Trick Shot and took a quick glance up at the rafters inside Madison Square Garden.
Legendary New York Rangers athletes and famous members of the New York Knicks have their jerseys retired high above the World’s Most Famous Arena that transforms into a dirt pit for the toughest athletes on dirt once a year.
Many memorable sporting events have happened at Madison Square Garden, including one of Proctor’s own favorites when he rode Bones for 91.25 points during his 2010 event-winning weekend.
Proctor couldn’t think of a better place to end his PBR career than New York City.
The nine-time PBR World Finals qualifier announced on Friday his intentions to chase after a PRCA all-around title in 2018, and that he will no longer be competing in the PBR following this weekend’s Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden.
“I have been a good bull rider doing both associations for several years, and now I want to be a great cowboy,” Proctor said. “I have always wanted to win an all-around title. I figure I will be 33 in March, and I thought, ‘Well my time is starting to run out.’
“I have been doing this for 12 years, and I have been doing both for several years. It finally came to a point where I was like I want to go after it. I have been everywhere and done a lot of things, and I just want to do everything I have wanted to do.”
Proctor has long been considered a better bronc rider than bull rider, but bull riding was something that Proctor knew would always pay the bills better for him.
After earning over $1.3 million since first making his debut on the PBR’s premier series in 2006 in Oklahoma City, Proctor says he is at peace with walking away from the PBR.
He also knows that to be the all-around champion in the PRCA he cannot ride part time like he has done throughout his bull riding career.
It is going to take more than a summer run to become the greatest cowboy in the world.
Proctor would have won the PRCA all-around title two years ago if he had won enough money to qualify for the championship in the bronc riding.
“I would have won it by $70,000, but you have to qualify in two events with $3,000,” Proctor said. “I won $2,600 in the bronc riding and missed it by $400 to be eligible.”
A roughstock athlete hasn’t won the all-around since nine-time World Champion Ty Murray won the 1994 title at the National Finals Rodeo.
Proctor is well seasoned on the rodeo trail and has a whole schedule of events already planned out for 2018.
The 2011 PRCA champion will likely go down as one of the greatest bull riders to ever compete in both the PBR and the PRCA at the same time.
Proctor has qualified for the NFR in bull riding in five times.
However, more impressive is the fact that he made the NFR four times while also qualifying for the PBR World Finals, including the year he won the 2011 PRCA bull riding championship.
“That is one of the biggest things I take pride in,” Proctor said. “When it comes down to it, I was good in both associations, but I was never great. I would like to be a great cowboy. The guys I looked up to were Ty Murray and (Cody) Lambert. Guys that did the all around.”
The Grand Coulee, Washington, bull rider likely would have made the NFR and PBR Finals in 2012, but Proctor was only able to compete in eight PBR premier series event in 2012 after breaking his arm at the 2011 NFR.
Fellow Washington bull rider Derek Kolbaba attended Proctor’s annual bull riding school as a teenager and is thankful for Proctor taking him under his wing when he first made his own PBR debut in 2014.
While he will miss having Proctor around, he is excited for Proctor’s pursuit of a new goal.
“It is something everybody comes to in life,” Kolbaba said. “He has had his fun in the PBR and achieved a lot. It is going to be pretty cool to see what he can achieve in the PRCA as a rodeo cowboy. That is a guy that rides outstanding and it will be pretty cool to see. He dang sure can contend for an all-around championship. That would be pretty cool to see a roughstock guy actually win the all-around and not a bunch of timed-event guys. Nothing against them.”
Proctor has had his fair share of memorable moments on the PBR side too.
He heads into Round 2 on Saturday night 251-for-694 (36.17 percent) in his career with eight event wins, including a PBR Major victory at the 2016 Iron Cowboy, and eight 90-point rides.
Just like 2011 was his best season in the PRCA, 2011 was also one of his greatest in the PBR.
Proctor finished ninth in the world standings with a career-high 45.33-percent riding average (34-for-75). He would then place ninth in the final standings two years later.
However, Proctor’s favorite memory is much more recent.
It was less than a year ago when Proctor rode 2017 YETI World Champion Bull contender Pearl Harbor for a career-high 93.5 points to win the Tacoma, Washington, 15/15 Bucking Battle.
Proctor grew up less than 300 miles from the Tacoma Dome, and the fans gave him a standing ovation before he even nodded for the gate against Chad Berger’s bovine superstar.
“Riding in my home state, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Proctor said. “Definitely probably the highlight of my career.
“It was the right moment at the right time and everything fell into place. That is the magic of bull riding. That is the magic of having the fans behind you, your friends there, your family. They make you do things. You could conquer King Kong that day. Two weeks before that he had his highest-marked bull score of the year at 47.5, and the next time he bucked I conquered him.”
Proctor also wouldn’t rule out a rematch against Pearl Harbor at the Mandan Pro Rodeo in North Dakota this summer if Berger feels like giving his bull a chance at revenge.
“To say I would never get on him again? It might happen,” Proctor said with a smirk.
One thing that most likely will not happen is for Proctor to compete again at the PBR level in future years.
“Most likely, you will never see me,” Proctor said. “When I am done, I am done. I am not going to try and come back and make the Finals. I have enjoyed my time here and I experienced a lot. I just have new goals and that is what I want to concentrate on.”
What If Proctor wins the season-opening event of the 25th PBR Unleash the Beast tour in New York on Sunday and is the No. 1 bull rider in the world?
Will he still leave the chance to chase after the 2018 World Championship behind?
“I will still walk away and have $100,000 in my pocket,” Proctor concluded. “If I won the event, that would just be badass. There is no other word for it. Literally, I can put it all on the line and have no regrets.
“Madison Square Garden is probably my favorite event of the year. The history in this building. The fans that come out. It starts out the New Year. I am going to leave on my terms, and my terms are I want to ride here at my favorite event and walk away.”
NEW YORK – Shane Proctor heard the 8-second buzzer go off on Friday night as he was finishing up his 81-point ride on Trick Shot and took a quick glance up at the rafters inside Madison Square Garden.
Legendary New York Rangers athletes and famous members of the New York Knicks have their jerseys retired high above the World’s Most Famous Arena that transforms into a dirt pit for the toughest athletes on dirt once a year.
Many memorable sporting events have happened at Madison Square Garden, including one of Proctor’s own favorites when he rode Bones for 91.25 points during his 2010 event-winning weekend.
Proctor couldn’t think of a better place to end his PBR career than New York City.
The nine-time PBR World Finals qualifier announced on Friday his intentions to chase after a PRCA all-around title in 2018, and that he will no longer be competing in the PBR following this weekend’s Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden.
“I have been a good bull rider doing both associations for several years, and now I want to be a great cowboy,” Proctor said. “I have always wanted to win an all-around title. I figure I will be 33 in March, and I thought, ‘Well my time is starting to run out.’
“I have been doing this for 12 years, and I have been doing both for several years. It finally came to a point where I was like I want to go after it. I have been everywhere and done a lot of things, and I just want to do everything I have wanted to do.”
Proctor has long been considered a better bronc rider than bull rider, but bull riding was something that Proctor knew would always pay the bills better for him.
After earning over $1.3 million since first making his debut on the PBR’s premier series in 2006 in Oklahoma City, Proctor says he is at peace with walking away from the PBR.
He also knows that to be the all-around champion in the PRCA he cannot ride part time like he has done throughout his bull riding career.
It is going to take more than a summer run to become the greatest cowboy in the world.
Proctor would have won the PRCA all-around title two years ago if he had won enough money to qualify for the championship in the bronc riding.
“I would have won it by $70,000, but you have to qualify in two events with $3,000,” Proctor said. “I won $2,600 in the bronc riding and missed it by $400 to be eligible.”
A roughstock athlete hasn’t won the all-around since nine-time World Champion Ty Murray won the 1994 title at the National Finals Rodeo.
Proctor is well seasoned on the rodeo trail and has a whole schedule of events already planned out for 2018.
The 2011 PRCA champion will likely go down as one of the greatest bull riders to ever compete in both the PBR and the PRCA at the same time.
Proctor has qualified for the NFR in bull riding in five times.
However, more impressive is the fact that he made the NFR four times while also qualifying for the PBR World Finals, including the year he won the 2011 PRCA bull riding championship.
“That is one of the biggest things I take pride in,” Proctor said. “When it comes down to it, I was good in both associations, but I was never great. I would like to be a great cowboy. The guys I looked up to were Ty Murray and (Cody) Lambert. Guys that did the all around.”
The Grand Coulee, Washington, bull rider likely would have made the NFR and PBR Finals in 2012, but Proctor was only able to compete in eight PBR premier series event in 2012 after breaking his arm at the 2011 NFR.
Fellow Washington bull rider Derek Kolbaba attended Proctor’s annual bull riding school as a teenager and is thankful for Proctor taking him under his wing when he first made his own PBR debut in 2014.
While he will miss having Proctor around, he is excited for Proctor’s pursuit of a new goal.
“It is something everybody comes to in life,” Kolbaba said. “He has had his fun in the PBR and achieved a lot. It is going to be pretty cool to see what he can achieve in the PRCA as a rodeo cowboy. That is a guy that rides outstanding and it will be pretty cool to see. He dang sure can contend for an all-around championship. That would be pretty cool to see a roughstock guy actually win the all-around and not a bunch of timed-event guys. Nothing against them.”
Proctor has had his fair share of memorable moments on the PBR side too.
He heads into Round 2 on Saturday night 251-for-694 (36.17 percent) in his career with eight event wins, including a PBR Major victory at the 2016 Iron Cowboy, and eight 90-point rides.
Just like 2011 was his best season in the PRCA, 2011 was also one of his greatest in the PBR.
Proctor finished ninth in the world standings with a career-high 45.33-percent riding average (34-for-75). He would then place ninth in the final standings two years later.
However, Proctor’s favorite memory is much more recent.
It was less than a year ago when Proctor rode 2017 YETI World Champion Bull contender Pearl Harbor for a career-high 93.5 points to win the Tacoma, Washington, 15/15 Bucking Battle.
Proctor grew up less than 300 miles from the Tacoma Dome, and the fans gave him a standing ovation before he even nodded for the gate against Chad Berger’s bovine superstar.
“Riding in my home state, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Proctor said. “Definitely probably the highlight of my career.
“It was the right moment at the right time and everything fell into place. That is the magic of bull riding. That is the magic of having the fans behind you, your friends there, your family. They make you do things. You could conquer King Kong that day. Two weeks before that he had his highest-marked bull score of the year at 47.5, and the next time he bucked I conquered him.”
Proctor also wouldn’t rule out a rematch against Pearl Harbor at the Mandan Pro Rodeo in North Dakota this summer if Berger feels like giving his bull a chance at revenge.
“To say I would never get on him again? It might happen,” Proctor said with a smirk.
One thing that most likely will not happen is for Proctor to compete again at the PBR level in future years.
“Most likely, you will never see me,” Proctor said. “When I am done, I am done. I am not going to try and come back and make the Finals. I have enjoyed my time here and I experienced a lot. I just have new goals and that is what I want to concentrate on.”
What If Proctor wins the season-opening event of the 25th PBR Unleash the Beast tour in New York on Sunday and is the No. 1 bull rider in the world?
Will he still leave the chance to chase after the 2018 World Championship behind?
“I will still walk away and have $100,000 in my pocket,” Proctor concluded. “If I won the event, that would just be badass. There is no other word for it. Literally, I can put it all on the line and have no regrets.
“Madison Square Garden is probably my favorite event of the year. The history in this building. The fans that come out. It starts out the New Year. I am going to leave on my terms, and my terms are I want to ride here at my favorite event and walk away.”