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PUEBLO, Colo. – The Top 15 bull riders competing at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, presented by Teton Ridge, will have one of the best bullfighters in the world protecting them for the next 10 days.
U.S. Border Patrol Bullfighter Cody Webster was recognized by the top bull riders in the PRCA Wednesday night at the 2021 PRCA Awards Banquet by being named the 2021 PRCA Bullfighter of the Year. He is the only bullfighter in the world this year to cowboy protect at both the PBR World Finals and the NFR.
“Last year, I cussed on television, and I am not doing that this year,” Webster said on-stage at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas. “I just want to thank my committees, my sponsors and everybody that has been there all along and supported me from the time I started – a long time ago, it feels like. Just the support from everybody, this is for you.”
Webster has been voted the PRCA Bullfighter of the Year two consecutive seasons. Last year he became the first bullfighter since Joe Baumgartner (2007) to work the PBR World Finals and NFR and be named the Bullfighter of the Year.
“Getting a buckle is really cool – it is something I will dang sure cherish and hang onto for the rest of my life – but man, the amount of people that have reached out,” Webster said. “The calls, the texts, just the overall support of thousands of people. When your phone dies the next day because it is blowing up is unreal. That really hits home to me. The buckle is cool, but the amount of support says it all.”
Webster will be on the dirt inside the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night for his ninth NFR alongside Dusty Tuckness and Nathan Harp.
Webster most recently finished up his eighth season as a U.S. Border Patrol Bullfighter and was voted by the top PBR bull riders to protect them once again on the premier series in 2022.
The Unleash The Beast begins its 2022 season on New Years Day in Indianapolis before the tour shifts to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden on Jan. 7-9.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media