PUEBLO, Colo. – Cody Jesus would stare at his brothers’ and sisters’ notebooks and try to figure out the algebra equation that needed to be solved.
The second-oldest of eight siblings, Jesus hadn’t worried about figuring out fractions or division problems in at least four years.
The only number Jesus had been consumed with was 8 seconds, of course.
Times were different, though, last spring.
Jesus was home in Sawmill, Arizona, attempting to let his torn left groin heal while also remaining holed up as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread throughout the Navajo Nation and the world. Six of his younger siblings had reverted to virtual learning, and he was trying his best to help his four brothers and two sisters, who range from 8 to 18 years old, keep up with their studies.
“Helping out the little kids in middle school (has been the hardest) because I forgot some of that stuff,” Jesus told PBR.com with a laugh this week while driving to a practice pen. “I was not very good at math anyways. Figuring out algebra and dividing fractions has been pretty cool to kind of relearn.”
Jesus is set to return to competition for the first time since last year’s Global Cup USA in Arlington, Texas, where he injured his right leg and reaggravated his left groin on February 15, 2020, at this weekend’s PBR Built Ford Tough Invitational in Del Rio, Texas.
The last thing on Jesus’s mind in the months following the 2020 Global Cup USA was bull riding.
Cody Jesus, the young rising star bull rider, had morphed into Cody Jesus, teacher and homework assistant.
“I spent a lot of the past year with my little sisters and brothers,” Jesus said. “They have been home, being homeschooled, and I have just been hanging out with them a little bit and helping them out and working around the house.”
Jesus would not think about bull riding for three months.
Instead, he focused on keeping his family safe amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, helping his parents around the house, training a horse each day and just trying to keep things easy on his groins.
He even filmed a COVID-19 PSA alongside Fourth Sky Media to help raise awareness for ways to stop the spread of COVID-19. Jesus says he can think of at least 10 people close to him or his family in the community that they have lost because of the worldwide pandemic.
“I wanted to set a good example for the Navajo people,” Jesus said of the PSA. “With this whole COVID deal, I thought it would blow over a whole lot faster, and it didn’t. Shoot, a lot of people I’ve known, some good rodeo announcers I’ve known, have passed away from it. It is sad to see, and it’s been a bad deal.”
When it came to his bull riding career, Jesus was also somewhat burnt out when he hobbled out of AT&T Stadium after the Global Cup. Bull riding was something he obsessed about since he was 13 years old, and he felt like his body had let him down after he finally had made it to the sport’s largest stage. He knew the PBR was starting events back up last year following a 41-day hiatus because of the pandemic, but his body was nowhere ready to compete.
Instead of opting for surgery, though, Jesus decided to take the remainder of the 2020 season off to rest his injuries and recharge.
“I just never usually go to the hospital. That is how I am,” Jesus said. “It is hard to drag me into the hospital unless I am split open bleeding or know something was bad. I just wanted to see how it would be just resting it for a full year, and if it does it again for this, then no doubt, I will get the surgery.”
Jesus was ranked seventh in the world standings and was the leading contender for Rookie of the Year when he first tore his left groin in April 2019 inside the Tacoma Dome in Washington.
He has since ridden only 8-of-40 bulls (20%) on the premier series, and he has admittedly been unable to ride up to his own known potential. Yes, two of his rides were for 90 or more points, including a 92-point ride on Lil 2 Train at the 2019 World Finals, but nearly every event was causing further pain to not only his left groin but eventually his right as well.
Jesus, 22, was blaming himself at times for his physical struggles, and he didn’t want to admit how hurt he was.
“I was hard on myself,” Jesus admitted. “It wasn’t my riding or the style that was making me hurt. It was just I couldn’t heal up that groin the way I wanted to. It’s been, heck, since after Tacoma. I would think I am good, and then I would go back downhill, or it would always nag me. It was mainly my left side that would kill me after I got off. I didn’t want to say anything about it or make it look like it was hurting me too bad, but I just kept going and going and going, and finally, after Global Cup, I didn’t want to tell nobody how bad it was hurting. I just took a break and left it be at that.”
So instead of craving practice bulls like he normally did, Jesus began to enjoy simpler things in his life. Every morning, he would get up to train his horse, work with his siblings’ schoolwork, and then get back to his horse in the afternoon.
The time on horseback and with his siblings helped him slowly rebuild his somewhat broken confidence.
He got back to enjoying life.
“I found myself thinking about bull riding way too much, kind of overthinking it and making bull riding harder than it should be,” Jesus said. “I started training this horse, and I would ride every single day. I would then get back and help my brothers and sisters with their homework really quick, and then try and go ride that horse again. For a good three months that was all I did, was just worry about riding horses and spending time with my brothers and sisters.
“When I found myself having fun again and just living life and living in the moment, I found myself starting to crave bull riding again.”
The craving began to intensify on Jesus’s 22nd birthday on July 13.
Jesus started to slowly begin to work himself back into shape, focusing on both of his groins. He reached out to friends and various physical therapists that he knows for advice on how to go about improving his body.
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“Once that craving came back, I knew it was time, and it was just a matter of getting healthy, getting fit and getting everything right again,” Jesus said.
He slowly began to stretch, use light weights, go for brief runs, and take ice baths. He also began to go through various therapies for the injury, undergoing acupuncture, electric stimulation therapy, and red-light therapy as part of his rehab.
He finally got on his first practice bull in September, and he would only get on a few bulls once a month until January.
Patience was going to be important, he told himself.
“Between those months, I would really evaluate myself and how my groin was feeling,” Jesus said. “December is when I knew it was good. I was planning on coming back a little bit earlier, but I figured I should just get everything right and situated at home, and then I would be ready to go.”
In November, Jesus watched the 2020 PBR World Finals from home. Seeing his buddies erupt for 90 points only fired him up that much more to focus on his rehab so he could come back stronger in 2021 and qualify for the World Finals for the second time in his career.
Jesus says he has gotten on more than 30 practice bulls in the past two weeks and his groins have felt perfect, which has him excited to finally be returning to competition Saturday afternoon at the Val Verde County Fairgrounds.
The third-year pro has drawn Manaba (0-0, UTB) for Round 1 (RidePass 3 p.m. ET/CBS Sports Network 10 p.m. ET).
Jesus has four guaranteed injury exemptions at his disposal to get seeded back on the Unleash The Beast.
“Going into Del Rio, I really want to stay on one bull and just get that confidence rolling again,” Jesus said. “It’s been a long time, and I have been real hard on myself, and my confidence went down a lot. Get a couple of bulls rode there. If we can get all three knocked out, that would be good too. I am taking it one event at a time, and hopefully I can sneak into that Top 35 and then sneak into at least Top 15 in the world, and we can start making up some points and ground. That is what I want to do and what I need to do to be in the world title race. That is what I want.”
Jesus then concluded, “It’s time to get back to work. I’ve missed it so much.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media