OKLAHOMA CITY – Earlier this week, the Missouri Thunder’s Kade Madsen got a phone call from his older brother, Briggs Madsen.

“Hey,” Briggs said, “did you guys hear that you’ve got a new teammate?”

“No,” Kade said. “Who is it?”

“His name’s Briggs Madsen,” Briggs said.

Briggs had been signed by the Thunder after being released by the Oklahoma Freedom, and the two brothers, who consider themselves best friends, were reunited.

“This is kind of what we wanted from the start, from the draft this year,” said Briggs, the older brother by five years. “Didn’t happen at first, but grateful. I feel like the Lord had his plan and had his hand in helping us get on the same team, even if it was halfway through the season. You see teams from the outside, but you don’t really know how it is to actually be in the team and operating with them, and these guys are great. I’ve loved it so far, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”

Making the moment even more special is that Kade will be leaving on a mission trip following this Teams season, spending two years in Nashville, Tennessee, with no bull riding allowed.

Despite being on opposing rosters, the brothers constantly communicated throughout the season. Kade has struggled to adjust to the higher level of bull power, despite leading the Thunder with four qualified rides, and Briggs has been a listening ear and source of advice.

“He, in the amateur level, rarely bucked off anything,” Briggs said. “He would go streaks of I don’t know how many without bucking off. And here, it’s a game of averages because you’re not going to ride every bull, and you’re going to buck off a lot of bulls because they’re the best in the world. So it’s been a struggle for him having to get bucked off one, two, three, however many in a row, and have to regroup and know to fix what’s wrong and move onto the next one and forget the rest.”

“It’s been tough,” Kade said. “It has, I’m not going to lie. The bulls buck a lot harder here, and the ground’s a lot harder, for sure.”

Kade regrouped on Sunday, riding I’m Legit Too for 88.75 points in the Thunder’s losing effort against the Kansas City Outlaws (9-7, 1-2 Freedom Fest). Despite the loss, it was still the Thunder’s best weekend of the season by far, as the team went 2-1 to finish fourth and improve to 4-12 this season.

“Glad to finally make the 8 seconds,” said Kade, who is now 4-for-15 (26%) this season. “It felt really good. Just kind of got out of my way and let my muscle memory take over and get the job done.

“For me, getting my brother on the team has been huge. He’s been my best friend since I can remember, so having him there, somebody that I can relate to, and being able to room with him… he’s been here and experienced this, so it helps me with my nervousness and stuff like that. So the vibe’s a lot better. We all like winning a lot more,” he added with a laugh.

The winning weekend started on Friday against the No. 7 Nashville Stampede (5-11, 2-1 Freedom Fest) when Briggs notched the only ride for the Thunder to secure the walk-off victory.

“It’s just great because when people trust you and are willing to sign you to their program, obviously you want to make it worth it to them,” Briggs said. “I wasn’t thinking about none of that. I was just focusing on what I needed to do, but at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, it just makes you feel good to help them get the win and hopefully let them know that they made a good decision in signing me.”

With Briggs on the roster, the Thunder are above .500, so it’s looking like a good decision so far.

The Thunder have hovered at or near the bottom of the standings all season, and Kade said it’s been difficult to rally.

“It was really hard for me, honestly. Probably one of the hardest things that I’ve done in my career to date,” Kade said. “Just going back to the basics, like remembering why I ride bulls, remembering why I love this sport and not so much doing it because I have to. It’s a job, but if you’re not doing it because you love it, what are you doing it for?”

The suddenly hot Thunder head home to Missouri next, with PBR Thunder Days taking center stage at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale on Sept. 15-17. The Madsen brothers will have their family in attendance – no longer wearing split jerseys and able to cheer for one team – and can’t wait to feel at home in one of the PBR’s most unique venues.

“My parents are going to get to come watch that one, and we’ve got some good momentum rolling into there and hopefully defend our home dirt,” Kade said.

Action for Thunder Days begins Sept. 15 at 8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV, when the No. 8 Thunder take on the No. 2 Outlaws. While they hope to continue their momentum, they know that the true prize lies at the end of the season.

“We talked, and our biggest goal is to win that gold buckle at the end of the season,” Kade said. “We finish last, and it don’t matter. It all happens in Vegas, so that’s our goal.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media