LAS VEGAS – Carrie Swearingen had the oversized $1 million makeshift check with her son’s name emblazoned across it in one hand while she shook her other hand in pure amazement.
“This is just so surreal,” the proud mother exclaimed while watching her 22-year-old son, Daylon Swearingen, lift the Jerome Robinson Cup high above his head moments after clinching the 2022 PBR World Championship inside Dickies Arena on May 22.
Daylon’s 6-for-8, winning performance at the 2022 PBR World Finals helped him fend off World Champions Jose Vitor Leme and Kaique Pacheco and perennial world title contender Joao Ricardo Vieira in one of the closest World Championship races in PBR history. Swearingen finished 442.49 points ahead of Pacheco in the world standings.
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Many would have considered Swearingen the underdog at the start at the seven-day World Finals, but he quickly proved he was never going to back down in pursuit of his first gold buckle, and his family certainly knew how determined Daylon was in his pursuit of PBR history.
His aunt Lorry Venetta recalled that this was a moment Daylon used to draw pictures of when he was 5 years old growing up in North Carolina.
“He would sit there and draw that trophy in the center of an arena for hours,” Lorry said with a smile.
Carrie then laughed, exhaling at least two weeks’ worth of stress built up in Fort Worth, in which Swearingen and Vieira exchanged the No. 1 ranking twice during the first weekend of competition.
“He handled it much better than we all did,” Carrie said, laughing. “I wouldn’t bet against Daylon. I wouldn’t bet against him ever. He is such a fighter. He had it going on this week, and he worked hard for this.”
Carrie then paused, a twinkle in her eye.
“But I do think he had some help this week, and this year.”
THE MIRACLE IN OKLAHOMA CITY
Three months earlier, the last thing on Carrie’s mind was seeing her son winning a World Championship.
On Feb. 11 in Oklahoma City, Daylon came within fractions of an inch of possibly losing his life during the 15/15 Bucking Battle at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage.
Then ranked No. 4, Swearingen was making a sensational ride aboard Vanilla Ice before bucking off just before the 8-second mark and landing in a compromising position underneath the 1,500-plus pound bovine athlete. He had nowhere to go as Vanilla Ice’s rear hooves came crashing down on his helmet, sending shards of green plastic across the arena.
The four-time PBR World Finals qualifier was knocked unconscious and had to be back-boarded off the dirt to the PBR Sports Medicine room, where Carrie and other members of Daylon’s family anxiously waited for an update.
It was a miracle Swearingen did not fracture his skull, and many rightfully so were quick to credit his helmet for saving his life. All those years of Carrie forcing her son to ride bulls with a silly-looking bike helmet made Daylon more than accustomed to strapping on an extra level of protection every time he climbed into the bucking chutes.
Daylon rebounded from his serious wreck in Oklahoma City by shockingly winning his next two premier series events – the PBR TicketSmarter Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, in St. Louis and the PBR Pluto TV Invitational in downtown Los Angeles. Swearingen overtook the world No. 1 ranking for the first time during the Unleash The Beast regular season during that four-day span in late February.
Carrie, a devout Christian, had another belief about the miracle inside Paycom Center on that fateful Friday night in Oklahoma City.
Her mother, Marien Phillips, had actually passed away eight days earlier in Oklahoma City at 81 years old. Daylon’s loving grandmother had always been one of his biggest advocates and coaches.
Marien, in fact, was once a bull rider herself and even rode a bull while pregnant with Carrie. Marien and her husband of 61 years, Edward, helped Carrie, then a single mother, raise Daylon and his brother, Sam, into standout young men and successful rodeo athletes.
“My mom has played a big part in this,” Carrie said. “She passed away in February, and there was just different little things that happened this year after her passing that we knew she was still here.”
Edward had a beaming smile radiating across his face on Championship Sunday in Fort Worth.
The proud grandfather was still in shock that Daylon had accomplished his childhood dream. Those hours spent together in the bucking chutes and going up and down the road to local rodeos had paid off.
“I can’t believe this,” Edward said. “I am so proud of Daylon, and I know Marien is watching him right now.”
LOFTY GOLD-BUCKLE DREAMS
Swearingen has plans to use a portion of his championship winnings to put the finishing touches on a brand new covered arena at his ranch in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
There is also a planner at his house in which he wrote a lofty goal five months ago.
Swearingen had just won the 2021 PBR Canada Finals event title and the WCRA Cowtown Christmas Rodeo to open 2022 as the No. 1-ranked bull rider in the world ahead of the Unleash The Beast season-opener in Indianapolis.
The fourth-year pro had already accomplished so much in his young career. Swearingen’s list of accomplishments before winning a gold buckle was already noteworthy.
In 2018, Swearingen won the National High School Rodeo Association bareback title. He then won the 2019 Collegiate National Finals bull riding title as a student at Panola College, while also qualifying for both the 2019 PBR World Finals and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. If that wasn’t enough, Swearingen also won the 2019 PBR Canada Championship in between his appearances at the two marquee season-culminating PBR and PRCA events.
Regardless, Swearingen confidently used his left hand to scribble down in his planner his primary goal for 2022: “Win the PBR world title.”
It was clear Swearingen was going to be a force in the 2022 title race following his back-to-back wins in St. Louis and Los Angeles, as well as his 2-for-2 performance to lead Team USA to gold at the PBR Global Cup USA in early March.
“In a weird way, I guess Oklahoma City was the turning point,” Swearingen said. “That’s when I had the next two good weeks, and everything just fell into place. I guess you could say I have some champion blood in me from my grandmother. I definitely think she’s been up there watching me, and just kind of thinking about that a little bit, it definitely gets to you. I wish she was here, but I’m thankful that she’s in a better place and watching over everyone.”
Swearingen stayed atop the world standings for two weeks following those victories before Vieira overtook the No. 1 ranking for the remainder of the regular season on March 20.
Swearingen, though, remained diligent in pursuit of his goal.
Unlike most 2022 world title contenders, Swearingen was entering various PBR events outside of the premier series, and he would lead the PBR with 149.99 points earned at non-premier series events. None were more significant than the 41.33 points he earned at the 2022 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals to overtake the world lead by a mere 8.99 points when he went 2-for-3 for a third-place finish in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“It was huge,” Swearingen said of entering the Finals with momentum. “Kaique, when he got hot, he was on, and he didn’t let off at all. And Joao, he just stayed consistent all the time. So you just can’t mess up, and it’s definitely helped me to be a better bull rider and believe in myself more because I had to believe in myself more to beat those guys, because they believe in themselves every second.”
THE PATH TO GOLD
Carrie often uses the word “fighter” to describe her son, and Daylon certainly refused to back down from the competition at the PBR World Finals.
Daylon remained unruffled despite beginning the Finals with a 5.22-second buckoff against Lil 2 Train. He would rebound to ride a career-best six consecutive bulls to win the World Championship.
Swearingen’s path to gold began with 93 points on Big Black in Round 2 and then took over the No. 1 ranking for good by riding Hey Bartender for 89.25 points in Round 3. He never looked back, riding Train Station (85.75 points) in Round 4, Lone Survivor (91.75 points) in Round 5 and Satan’s Seed (87.75 points) in Round 6.
Swearingen then began Championship Sunday with 92.25 points on I’m Legit Too to eliminate all of his challengers from the title race except Pacheco, who would buck off Manaba in 5.9 seconds in the championship round to cement Swearingen the 2022 World Championship.
“It’s pretty incredible,” a stunned Swearingen said following the event. “I’m surprised. I’m just thankful for my family being here, and everybody being here, and the opportunity that God put in front of me. I was coming in here with the mentality that I had to ride them all. I was really thankful to get on I’m Legit Too. I’ve had a really good history with that bull. I have my highest-marked ride on him (93 points in Albuquerque, New Mexico), and it’s pretty incredible to get it done on him.”
Swearingen concluded the season 26-for-60 (43.33%) with nine 90-point rides, six round wins and three event victories.
He is the seventh rider in PBR history to win the World Championship and PBR World Finals in the same season, joining World Champions Mike Lee, Renato Nunes, J.B. Mauney, Jess Lockwood and Jose Vitor Leme in the record books.
“It’s crazy. Unreal,” Swearingen said. “This hasn’t really all sunk in yet. Everything’s going still, and I’m just really thankful that my family got to be here with me.”
A DRAFT-NIGHT TRADE
Following the World Finals, Swearingen had to anxiously wait and see where he would end up being selected in the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, on May 23.
Swearingen’s late-season surge for the World Championship had certainly increased his draft stock.
The first two picks in the draft went as expected, with Leme (Austin Gamblers) and Pacheco (Nashville Stampede) quickly going off the board.
The Texas Rattlers then began a wild and unexpected night for Swearingen. The Cody Lambert-led team chose Swearingen with the No. 3 selection only to later trade the newly minted World Champion, the team’s next draft pick Mason Taylor (14th overall selection) and pick No. 30 to the Carolina Cowboys for Vieira, Cody Jesus and the 26th pick in the draft.
Just like that, Swearingen was being reunited with one of his childhood mentors in Carolina coach Jerome Davis.
Swearingen had known Davis and Carolina wanted him, but he was unsure if a deal would get done, especially once his name was announced inside Texas Live!
“I knew something was kind of in the works, but I didn’t know how they were going to pull it off, and I’m glad they pulled it off,” Swearingen said. “I didn’t know that was going to happen out there.”
Davis was thrilled that his general manager, Austin Dillon, was able to pull off the blockbuster trade on draft night.
“I’ve known Daylon for a long, long time,” Davis said. “Since he was a little kid, he’d be coming to my bull riding schools. I’ve watched him through his whole career and talked to him through it. He’ll call me every now and then to kind of get through some slumps, and I kind of knew what made him go. It was awesome. I think everybody knew that me and Daylon had a good relationship, and that had a lot to do with it. I think everybody knew that he would be happy here, and at the end of the day, it fell our way.”
ONE FINAL LOVING GOODBYE
Swearingen headed back to upstate New York two days after the draft for his grandmother’s memorial service on May 25, where he and his family said one last goodbye to Marien.
However, Swearingen knows his grandmother won’t be too far away. There is a good chance she has already acquired a Carolina Cowboys jersey from up above, and she will undoubtedly be rooting on her son and his teammates when the PBR Team Series begins on July 25-26 at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
And while everyone was focused on Swearingen’s championship smile, he was actually happy to see someone else smiling inside Dickies Arena.
“It’s been tough for us this week, especially for my grandpa, with her memorial a few days away,” Swearingen said. “When my mom was a single mom, it was my grandparents that pretty much raised us.
“So it was definitely a hard week to come by, but I’m glad my grandpa got to smile today.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media