PUEBLO, Colo. – On Monday evening, Brady Oleson of the Texas Rattlers announced on his Instagram that he’s retiring from bull riding.
“Last weekend in Austin, Texas I had a little accident and ended up tearing some ligaments in my neck along my C3 C4,” Oleson posted. “Thank you all for the messages and prayers! I undergo surgery this week to have my neck fused. Unfortunately they’ve informed me that my bull riding career has come to an end. It’s a very tough moment in my life, but I am very grateful that it wasn’t any worse and I am still able to walk! Thank God for the blessings and the amazing life I’ve been lucky enough to experience!”
The fateful ride came aboard Fast Flow as the Rattlers took on the Kansas City Outlaws at Gambler Days. Fast Flow pulled Oleson down over his head, and Oleson landed on his own head on the arena dirt.
Oleson was carried off on a stretcher, still able to move his extremities and communicate with those around him, and was transported to Dell Seton Medical Center. He was treated for a ligament injury, held overnight, and discharged, returning to the Moody Center the following day to cheer on his teammates in a neck brace.
“Brady retires a Champion,” said Texas Rattlers GM Chad Blankenship. “A member of our squad since its inception, his rides helped make us the only undefeated team on home dirt and the 2023 PBR Team Series Champions. But it’s the sparkle in his eyes, his work ethic, and the love he brings to our locker room that makes him a lifelong Texas Rattler.”
Indeed, Oleson was a vital member of the 2023 PBR Team Series Champion Texas Rattlers, going 9-for-19 (47%) as the Rattlers chased the title.
Oleson is a career 40-for-138 (28%) on the premier series with one event win – Tucson, Arizona, to begin the 2023 Unleash The Beast season.
He began his PBR career in 2014, competing at Touring Pro Division, Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour and PBR Canada events before making his UTB debut in 2018.
However, after 2018, Oleson didn’t see the premier series again until 2022.
The Blackfoot, Idaho, native was on the cusp of becoming a regular on the premier series in 2018, but he needed surgery on his riding wrist that April. A failed return from that injury resulted in him deciding to get a necessary surgery on his left shoulder five months later.
“After the injuries and surgeries, I kind of fell into a dark place and used alcohol frequently,” Oleson told PBR.com in 2022. “Financially, things were starting to fall apart, and I had no structure. I sat at home, and I struggled bad. I was always a little bit out of control, especially when it came to alcohol. After I would have my first beer, there was never a stopping point for me. A normal person could have two or three, have a buzz, and say, ‘Okay, I’m good.’ To function, I needed to have alcohol. Then, when it was time to get my life back together, I was out of control. It kind of went too far for me to regroup, right?
“A lot of people in my life were fed up with it, and I honestly was too, but I couldn’t stay away from it.”
Oleson got things together enough to attend a few events in 2019, but when COVID hit in 2020, he returned to his old habits.
“I was not capable of riding bulls,” Oleson said. “The crazy thing was I never wanted to drink, right? Once I hit a certain point, I wanted to focus on bull riding and doing well, but I kind of just lost the choice. I know people say you have a choice to drink or not. But it got to a point where I didn’t have that choice. I was getting that alcohol. I would drink before I ate.
“A lot of people told me if I don’t fix my life, that this would never be a part of it again. I saw in my past everything I destroyed and ruined. There was no chance anything came back if I didn’t get sober.”
So get sober he did.
Oleson admitted himself into a 60-day alcohol addiction treatment program at the Renaissance Ranch Treatment Center in Logan, Utah, and then elected to double down on his recovery, registering for the Renaissance Ranch’s outpatient program. He was placed into a sober house with a group of other men working together to improve their mental health while addressing their addiction.
In December of 2021, the itch to ride bulls started coming back, and he entered his first PBR event in a year and a half – a TPD event in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on December 31, where he went 0-for-2.
Oleson returned to the Velocity Tour on January 15, 2022, at the Portland Classic, where he went 3-for-3 to earn the event win and a spot back on the Unleash The Beast. He finished second at the Spokane Classic before returning to the UTB in Sacramento, California.
Oleson was drafted by the Rattlers in the third round in May before winning in Tucson in November. From 2022-2024, despite struggling with injuries, he was a staple on the premier series.
While Oleson’s career has been cut short, his story is one of perseverance, self-belief, and success.
“I was a little hesitant at first about opening up because it is a little embarrassing, but it really is not,” Oleson said. “I wish when I was going through it, I knew someone. I didn’t know anyone who was going through it, and I just kind of thought I was a little crazy.
“If someone hears my story, maybe it sends them down a good path. It is something I think that is important for everyone to know is out there.”
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media
