ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Carolina Cowboys have been the story of the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series season, sitting atop the standings all season long thanks to a 12-game unbeaten streak to start the season.
The team has been buoyed by a trio of World Champions: 2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen (10-for-20, 50%), 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis (12-for-20, 60%), and seven-time PRCA bull riding world champion Sage Steele Kimzey (11-for-17, 64%).
But further down the lineup card is another familiar name: Derek Kolbaba.
The 10-year veteran is 9-for-20 (45%) in his first season in Carolina blue, which comes after he missed nearly a year due to a broken neck.
Kolbaba broke his neck in Nashville in August of 2023, and he didn’t suit up in the PBR again until this past July.
He underwent surgery last summer, during which doctors fused his C6 and C7 vertebrae. While his doctor never doubted that Kolbaba would be able to return to bull riding, Kolbaba himself wasn’t so sure.
“Personally, I’m not going to lie, I probably took a month or two of just kind of letting things settle to make that decision, if I wanted to come back or not,” Kolbaba said. “It’s a little more eye-opening. When you break a leg or a jaw or puncture lungs – once it heals, it heals, and it’s kind of forgotten about. When you’re talking about your neck, it puts a different aspect to it and makes you really have to find that love for what you’re doing, and if it’s not there, then you’d better not come back.”
While Kolbaba was cleared to ride again in May, he took June to ensure he knew what he wanted.
“It still was there for me, and that fire was burning pretty big in my stomach, so I knew that I wanted to come back and still had something I wanted to accomplish,” he said. “And now, looking back at the way things transpired, being traded here to the Carolina Cowboys, for them to have the confidence in me – that happened before I got on a bull. So that was pretty nice and gave me a little extra confidence as well.”
Though he’s been riding professionally since 2014, getting back on a bull for the first time since breaking his neck posed a bit of a challenge.
“First bull back, there was definitely a lot of butterflies,” he said, “but it felt just like riding a bike. We just went on from there.
“I just took that extra time to make sure I felt that everything was 100% strong, and my body, physically, was where it needed to be, and mentally I was there.”
Having to consciously decide to return to the sport he loves has been a huge blessing for Kolbaba. The perspective of having it nearly taken away from him has allowed him to look at things in a new light.
“It’s something that you have to find that love for, and the same love you had when you were 16 years old and you just craved it,” Kolbaba said. “And it’s easy to do, right? You’ve done this for 10 years, and you show up to the same places every time, and it just feels kind of repetitive, and it’s easy to get lost in that mental space of just going through the motions instead of doing it with a purpose and meaning it every time you nod your head. So that was kind of what I took away from it. For me, I always try to look at the bright side of it and try to stay positive with everything. So for me, it’s like, if I’m going to take something away from it, I got to spend nine months with my wife and daughter, and really got to enjoy that. But now, being back, I feel like, mentally, I’m very clear and really happy that I get to be with the guys that I’m with as well, just to keep pushing.”
Kolbaba’s presence has been a boon for the Cowboys, who are ranked No. 1 at 15-4-1.
Despite falling to the Oklahoma Wildcatters in their first game at PBR Teams: Anaheim in Anaheim, California, this weekend, the boys in blue rebounded on Sunday to defeat the New York Mavericks, 172.75-90.
Kolbaba chipped in 88 points on Watch Out.
“Kind of had a rough go on the first one and ended up getting a re-ride. Thankfully, (head coach) Jerome (Davis) thought I was the best one for the re-ride,” he said. “I just had to block out what had just happened on the first bull and take it to this one, and thankfully, it worked out. The team needed it. Like I said, I’m just having fun doing what we love to do.”
After starting the season 10-0-1, the Cowboys are 5-4 in their last nine games.
With eight games remaining in the regular season—including three at their homestand, Cowboy Days, in Greensboro, North Carolina, next weekend—this next stretch could determine a lot.
At least three more games await the Cowboys at the 2024 PBR Camping World Teams Championship in Las Vegas on Oct. 18-20.
“I think there’s some little things that come about that’s just bull riding, and it makes it what it is,” Kolbaba said. “But at the same time, I don’t think we’ve hit our stride yet. I don’t feel like we peaked too early. I feel like guys are just going to get locked in and finish it out. At the end of the day, the first 10 games don’t really matter as much as the last 10 games, especially Vegas. So that’s when we’re going to get locked in, and I think everyone here is capable, and that’s what they want to accomplish.”
Kolbaba doesn’t take for granted the group of guys he shares a locker room with, and he credits his teammates with elevating the whole squad.
“It’s been awesome,” he said. “I’ve put my gear bag down next to Cooper for the last 10 years of our careers, and having guys like Sage Kimzey – it just makes everybody’s floor have to rise, you know? We can’t really expect or be okay with just being okay. We want to be great every single time that we nod our heads, and it’s something that the whole team has bought into. At training camp, we had that discussion, and everyone was on board, and it makes it really fun to be with a group of guys that take it and go about it the way they do.”
With the season nearing its conclusion – and its peak – Kolbaba plans to keep the good vibes rolling as the Cowboys chase a championship.
“I believe in myself that I can do it, my teammates believe in me, and I damn sure believe in them,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of faith in them any time, no matter what draw they have. Personally, I feel really good. I feel healthy. My body is in as good a shape as it’s ever been. I’m just enjoying it, that’s for sure.”
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media