FAIRFAX, Va. – J.B. Mauney could barely stand.
The pain and fire in his hips was so numbing that Mauney would be searching for a piece of steel to grab onto. The back of the bucking chutes, the side panel, something.
It was not just his lower body that was hurting.
It was everything.
His right shoulder was still sending radiating jolts of pain down his side, a residual effect of his ongoing recovery from career-threatening shoulder surgery.
The chronic pain in his left elbow (riding arm) also began to compound the situation.
It was a pretty common occurrence during the first half of the 2018 season to see the veins in Mauney’s neck bulge as he tried to grit his teeth amidst all the pain he was in.
It was one thing for Mauney to feel the brutal force of a 1,500-pound ass-kicking in the arena, but it was another thing for him to notice he was struggling at times to pick himself up off the ground.
The list of Mauney’s injuries this year alone could have derailed a bull rider’s season – a torn left groin, a less-than-100-percent free arm, a broken back and a series of other undocumented injuries that have piled up over his 13-year career.
With the buckoffs and the pain outweighing the qualified rides and the happiness that comes with hearing the 8-second buzzer to the tune of 90 points, Mauney started to sit at home questioning his future.
Maybe the critics and the doubters were right.
A question kept creeping into his mind throughout the springtime: “Is it time to retire?”
Mauney would quickly try to brush it off through, not revealing his doubts to his wife, Samantha, or anyone else.
Deep down, though, Mauney began to wonder.
“The first of the year, I am not going to lie, I was hurting so bad and I was beat up so bad that I was at the point that I was going to have to go get fixed or do something to make me feel better or I was done,” Mauney revealed last week in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “I was hurting so bad that I couldn’t even get off the ground when I hit the ground. Hips, everything. It was all compounding and building up on me. When you are hurting that bad, it is not fun anymore. That is the thing about bull riding. One reason you do it is because you love it, and the second reason is fun. When you step off and you are 92 points there is no feeling like it. When it is not fun anymore, that is when it becomes a job.
“I never said nothing. I had just thought in my head. There is a point and a time in your life where you can only take so many beatings and when your body starts giving out, and your mind is still in it past your body. That is what a lot of guys say. ‘You can’t outlast time. It catches up to everybody.’”
Mauney continued to fight through those darker days, continuing to believe he could turn it around.
He was beginning to see progress in his riding even if the results were not there just yet.
They are slowly coming now.
The 31-year-old is beginning to regain confidence in his free arm, on which he had career-threatening shoulder surgery 15 months ago in July of 2017.
He also still believed he could ride the rankest bulls in the PBR.
“I love riding bulls,” Mauney said. “That is what it boils down to. I feel like I can still win. I still can compete. I feel like I still can ride the rank bulls, so I am going to keep coming. When I feel like I can’t ride them rank bulls, that is the day I will quit.”
That day will not be this year either.
Mauney reiterated in Atlantic City retirement is no longer on his mind.
“These guys are going to have to put up with me for a while,” Mauney said. “I am in my prime. I am getting over all these injuries and getting stuff moving right. I am ready to go.”
Mauney heads into this weekend’s U.S. Border Patrol Invitational in Fairfax, Virginia, ranked 34th in the world standings.
The Mooresville, North Carolina, cowboy is 12-for-36 (33.33 percent) in 12 events and has at least one qualified ride in every event since the second half.
“When I came back after the break, I was feeling good,” Mauney said. “(Before) Tulsa I was kind of debating if this is my last year. (Springfield) really set it up. I didn’t ride that short round bull (Big Black), but I left an impression to where they remember I am still here and I am not quite finished yet.”
Mauney is a mere 31.66 points ahead of No. 36 Brock Radford in the world standings, but Radford is also out of competition because of torn ligaments in his left knee.
Just one round win this weekend could push Mauney to 29th in the world. An event win could put him potentially as high as 14th.
Mauney has drawn Gangster Can Do (9-5, PBR UTB) for Round 1 on Saturday night at EagleBank Arena.
Fans can watch all of the action exclusively on RidePass beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
It is an unfamiliar position for Mauney to be in, and it is one that longtime friend Sean Willingham says is strange to see.
Willingham, though, is quick to point out that Mauney’s rough season is a reminder that no one is immune to Father Time or the brutality of the sport.
“We would never expect see J.B. Mauney of all people here,” Willingham said. “The highest money earner of all time. Two-time World Champion. I have known him his whole career as well. He is an outstanding bull rider. It goes to show how tough this sport is to stay in at the top, if you get injured and you are gone for a little time.
“That is a proven fact right there. One of the best bull riders of all time is struggling to make the World Finals. It is just because of injuries and he has been out and been missed. That is the difference in this game. If you are out and gone, it don’t take long for you to fall off the chart.”
Mauney is hanging on, and he has plans of rocketing far away from the cutline before the PBR World Finals roll around on Nov. 7-11 in Las Vegas.
He has heard lots said about Father Time, so what would Mauney say if Father Time was indeed a real person?
“I would whoop his ass,” Mauney concluded confidently.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko