Pro bull rider Sage Kimzey has quite the resume when it comes to his career in rodeo. When it comes to bull-riding ranks, Sage Kimzey has been #1 for seven out of his ten-year career. He became the youngest millionaire in PRCA history during the 2016 Wrangler NFR at 22 years, 3 months, and 2 weeks old – which was also only his fourth year competing on the pro level. Keep reading for the full interview with Champion Bull Rider, Sage Kimzey.
Q: Was rodeo always part of your life?
A: I grew up in a rodeo family. My dad was the first person in our family to get into the rodeo scene. Even as a baby, I was going to rodeos with my dad. From Mutton Bustin’ to bull riding, I did it all. I started Junior Rodeo when I was little and had an older sister who was into rodeo before me. I worked all the events growing up as well. The older I got, I realized that bull riding was my favorite event and the one I was the best at, so I pursued that. In high school I rode broncs and bulls, then in my junior year, I focused on bull riding only, now, it’s a full-time career. Last year I went to about 110 rodeos and typically, each rodeo has one bull, some have more per event. I was on 175 bulls give or take in 2021, so quite a few!
Q: What pushed you into Pro Rodeo?
A: The big “ah-ha moment” for me was when I was 15 or 16 years old. I won a $4,000 prize and was so excited because, for any kid that age, that’s a lot of money. I was like ‘Man this is definitely what I want to do! I’m never gonna do anything else. I’m a bull rider now!’ There were a lot of steps to even get to that point. But when you finally make a good ride and go pick up your check, there’s not a feeling that can replicate that. I never considered myself the most talented or the guy who’d go on to win the most buckles or anything. There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in the sport and I loved it all. I worked my way through the ranks and eventually found myself competing in the Pros. I’ve always competed because I love the sport, the fame and fortune have just been a nice bonus. I signed on with Team Polaris in 2015 or 2016 and it’s been a great experience. Whenever you’re growing up, all you want is to be good enough to have a sponsor. After some success in the pros, being with Team Polaris has been amazing and it’s special being a part of the premier group of athletes.
Q: Have you ever been seriously injured?
A: Oh yeah. You name it, it’s probably happened to me or one of the guys in the locker room. I’ve been really fortunate and blessed to stay relatively healthy throughout my career so far. It’s one of the most dangerous sports in the world, so you do it long enough and you’re eventually going to get hurt.
Q: Do you connect on a personal level with your animals?
A: Bulls are so funny because a lot of them have big personalities. Some of them you connect with and some just want to do their job, buck you off, get you out of the way and hook you. For each guy, at the end of the day, it’s a macho man’s sport, but I look at it more like a dance with the bull. It’s like going to war with the animal because at the end of the day you’re not going to overpower a 1,800-pound animal that’s been bred to buck you off.
Q: What is #BeLegendary?
A: My wife actually came up with that. We were dating at the time and talking about social media and my brand. I told her that I wanted to be able to inspire young kids that needed something to shoot for. We had always talked about becoming legendary and she suggested we use that. Being legendary can mean so many things to so many different people. I’ll be honest, at first, I didn’t really know where she was going with it, but in the end, she was right and it ended up fitting my brand perfectly.
Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine
This interview with Sage was created for the Summer Issue of the Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine which was released in early July. You can catch this article and many more by checking out the full issue. For more information on Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine, visit the website here.
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