PUEBLO, Colo. – It’s the PBR’s 30th anniversary season, and all year long, PBR.com has been celebrating the league’s history and the legends of the sport.
But a milestone year like this one wouldn’t be complete without a definitive ranking.
Who are the best bull riders in PBR history?
It’s a question PBR Top 30, presented by Pendleton Whisky, will officially answer. Each week this summer, head over to the PBR’s Facebook and YouTube pages to watch the latest episode and reminisce about the top riders and bulls the world has ever seen.
The first episode kicks off the rider countdown, and things start strong with No. 30-23.
Featured among this group is 2002 World Champion Ednei Caminhas, who set the record in 2022 as the oldest rider ever to compete at the PBR World Finals at 46.
“I’ve seen guys his age ride before, but we’re not talking on this level,” Ezekiel Mitchell said. “He’s 47 and still competing with us. He’s like Tom Brady – he just keeps coming back. He wants some more.”
RELATED: 2002 World Champion Caminhas becomes oldest PBR World Finals qualifier at 46 years old
But it hasn’t been linear. Caminhas has retired several times, going 13 years between World Finals (2009 to 2022).
When asked if he ever thought he’d be doing it this long, Caminhas laughs.
“No. But I’m still going,” he told PBR.com at the 2022 PBR Team Series Championship in Las Vegas in November. “When I’m feeling good, I’m going.”
Following his record-breaking World Finals, Caminhas signed with the Texas Rattlers of the PBR Team Series for the inaugural season. Head coach Cody Lambert was initially skeptical but invited Caminhas to his ranch for a tryout, ultimately telling him that he needed to lose some weight to crack the roster.
“Let me tell you something funny. When I was younger, I’m not training,” Caminhas said. “I never go to the gym. I never work out. Nothing. I just ride bulls and ride horses every day. When they invite me for Teams, I start training. Training is new for me.”
But train he did, and with the help of a strict diet, he lost 14 pounds and made his debut as a Rattler at the season-opener in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Not only did the diet help him lose weight, but it also helped him in the form of motivation.
“A great moment was when I went 3-for-3 in Austin, because they put me on a diet for losing weight a little bit,” Caminhas said. “It was about two and a half months I don’t eat meat—only chicken, fish, and salad. No sweets. And Cody Lambert said, ‘If you ride 3-for-3, you can have a cheeseburger.’ And I rode my first one, my second one, and when I rode the third one, everybody said, ‘Cheeseburger, baby!’”
Diet aside, the Team Series allowed Caminhas to breathe new life into his career. He went 8-for-22 (36%) for the Rattlers and enjoyed sharing his expertise from a two-plus-decade career with younger riders.
“I’m teaching the young ones and telling them the experience that I have before and now,” Caminhas said. “I think when they watch me, it encourages them to go and win. It’s a nice feeling.”
RELATED: Caminhas: From tryout warrior to Texas Rattlers' key contributor
Caminhas spent much of 2023 on the shelf due to injury, going 5-for-24 (20%) across all levels of competition. He nearly squeaked into the 2023 PBR World Finals as a Velocity Tour invite, though, when he finished second at the 2023 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals.
“Ednei Caminhas – he’s incredible,” said CBS Sports Network sideline reporter Kate Harrison. “And every time he’s rode recently, in the last few years, you’ll notice he takes a moment, stands up in the arena, puts his hands up, and just looks around.”
Caminhas currently isn’t signed to a Team Series squad, and he’ll have to win his way back to the premier series should he decide to continue riding in 2024.
But if anyone knows how to make a comeback, it’s him.
“I say to Cody Lambert, when he invited me, I say, ‘Forget about the numbers. Use my experience and my talent because I know how to ride bulls. I know my talent,’” Caminhas said. “And God gave me a power that’s more important. That’s why I trust myself.”
Whether his career ends this year or another ten years down the road, Caminhas’s place in PBR history is undoubtedly set in stone.
“That toughness, that grit, that determination – that doesn’t go away with age,” Harrison said. “And Ednei proves that.”
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media