Some of Matt O鈥橣lynn鈥檚 favourite times as a professional bull rider happen on the road to and from rodeos.
He and his car mates take the time to swap stories, watch the country drift by or just catch up on some much-needed sleep. It is fitting then that the 28-year-old O鈥橣lynn, from Quesnel, was sitting shotgun in a truck when he made the decision to call it a career this summer.
It was the third week in August and O鈥橣lynn says he was heading to a Bull Riders Canada (BRC) event in Cochrane, Alberta with his good friend and fellow competitor, Lane Cork.
To pass the time he read a follow-up article on Ty Pozzobon, a bull rider from Merritt who took his own life in January of 2017.
O鈥橣lynn was close to Pozzobon and says the article hit him in the heart. It wasn鈥檛 just that he missed his friend. He also saw the road that could lay ahead for him if he continued to test his limits.
鈥淗aving seen what it did to his family and then knowing the way he acted was the way we all act really,鈥� O鈥橣lynn says, 鈥淩eckless and living for the moment.
鈥淪o all of a sudden, I felt like I had been slapped in the face. It just hit me and I said to myself, 鈥業鈥檓 going to quit. This is it. This is the end of the road for me.鈥濃��
Pozzobon had just wrapped up his best rodeo season when he killed himself at the age of 25. He was riding bulls better than he ever had and seemed on top of the world; but inwardly, he was struggling mightily.
A post-mortem exam confirmed he suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in contact sport athletes as well as military personnel.
Often it is the result of multiple concussions.
In a sport where contestants attempt to hang on to 1,800 pound bundles of fleshy muscle, injuries are abundant and it鈥檚 the cowboy way to shrug them off.
鈥淚鈥檝e pretty much had my face more or less rebuilt,鈥� O鈥橣lynn mentions as casually as someone telling their co-worker they put on winter tires recently.
鈥淚 had a bull crush my face,鈥� he explains. 鈥淗e fell down and jumped right back up and kicked really hard and I just, Bang!鈥� he yells out, motioning his head smacking down against something in front of him, 鈥淗it my face on the top of his horns, which is the thickest part of his skull.
鈥淢y nose was under my eye, which was pretty traumatic when I was looking at it in the rear view mirror on the way to the hospital.鈥�
If a face crushing is not impetus enough to stop the dangerous sport, it begs the question, what is?
O鈥橣lynn has also lost many teeth and broken his wrist countless times.
鈥淭he muscle was ripped right off my hand. It didn鈥檛 work for a while but we got that taken care of,鈥� he says quite nonchalantly.
He also almost lost an ear while competing. The bull rider has a four or five inch scar going to up the right side of his skull behind the appendage, which was the result of 40 stitches to reattach it.
While he talks about his many maladies as if they were mere setbacks, he stiffens up slightly and becomes significantly more solemn when discussing head injuries.
鈥淒efinitely the worst injuries are concussions, and I鈥檝e had well over 15,鈥� he admits.
鈥淚鈥檝e been knocked out four times this year and reading that article, I saw a lot of the information was running parallel with my life right now.鈥�
鈥淵ou can have the world by the balls but if you push it too far, you鈥檙e going to get bit.
鈥淐oncussions are the killer.鈥�
READ MORE: Quesnel bull rider as tough as they come
With the help of the Quesnel Rodeo Club, O鈥橣lynn plans to organize a school for young rodeo athletes this spring. Part of its mandate will be to raise awareness of the dangers of head injuries in the sport.
鈥淭he biggest thing [I want to get across to athletes] is take the time and do the research and know the injury,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ven though you can鈥檛 see it bleeding and you can鈥檛 see the bruising, you鈥檙e still hurt and you need to take the time.
鈥淵ou cannot rush it because it鈥檒l shorten your career if you rush it,鈥� O鈥橣lynn adds.
鈥淎nd I rushed it.鈥�
He says the cowboy thing, being tougher than the leather your saddle is made from, has been bred into the sport for many generations.
鈥淵ou will ride with a cast on or you will ride with a dislocated shoulder from the day before. There鈥檚 certain things that you can mitigate to make it work, but one of the biggest things that you cannot waver on is concussions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 part of it. You鈥檙e going to get knocked out. I know if I keep riding I鈥檓 going to get knocked out again. It鈥檚 not a question of if or how, it鈥檚 just going to happen.
鈥淪o, you have to be able to deal with that and that鈥檚 one of the things we will go over really extensively in my school.鈥�
In addition to organizing the school, O鈥橣lynn has taken over his father鈥檚 roofing business with his brother, Tom. He has been working hard to expand the company and hopes to double its size by next year.
During the winters he plans on travelling with his fiancee, who he hopes to marry next year.
O鈥橣lynn is grateful for the support his family and friends have shown throughout his career, especially now that it is coming to a close.
鈥淚鈥檝e been really close with my parents and my brothers and sister,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey talked to me partway through this year about retiring and [asked] what my thoughts were.
鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 pressuring me at all because they鈥檝e seen how hard I鈥檝e worked and what I鈥檝e put in to this sport 鈥� so, when I did make the decision to retire it was 100 per cent my decision.鈥�
Road companion and top bull rider in his own right, Lane Cork had O鈥橣lynn鈥檚 back with the choice too.
鈥淲hen I read the article I was pretty much crying and I talked to Lane right away and he said, 鈥榊ou should think about [retiring].鈥欌��
The two Quesnel men have been friends for a long time. O鈥橣lynn says they鈥檝e done a lot of wild and cool stuff together and have many shared memories, so the sentiment meant a lot to him.
Although 28 may seem young to be retiring from anything, O鈥橣lynn has had a long career. He says he鈥檚 been partaking in rodeos since he was eight years old.
鈥淯ncle Steve started me,鈥� he says, referring to local rodeo hero Steve Hohmann, who at 52 is still riding bulls.
鈥淗e鈥檚 just old school. One of the last of a dying breed.
He had me doing about 30 rodeos a year by the time I was 11 and I started riding bulls by the time I was 15 and then competed professional for the last seven years, since I was about 20.鈥�
If there were any regrets, O鈥橣lynn says, it was not forcing his way on to the professional circuit sooner.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 believe in myself enough [when younger],鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just so scary coming from B.C. to Alberta.鈥�
Outsiders might think that it would be the bulls, not the big show, that would provide the most trepidation, but O鈥橣lynn says he didn鈥檛 find them too frightening at all after a couple years.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e huge and they鈥檙e scary and when you鈥檙e a kid, you stand there looking at this thing and think, 鈥榃hy would I get on that?鈥� But after a while it becomes routine. You do your thing and you put your rope on and you go to work.
鈥淚n the last 10 years, I never thought a particular bull was scary.鈥�
He says it was not even about the bulls so much as he has gotten older. It is more about the whole experience 鈥� highlights of which include getting to travel to Australia, training for winters in California, driving across thousands of miles with good friends and even meeting his fiancee through rodeo.
The rodeo tradition will carry on in the family, even as Matt retires. The youngest O鈥橣lynn brother, Eric, will take up bull riding next year.
He is 16-years-old and has been riding steers for a few years.
鈥淚 cared more about calling him after rodeos than I cared about my own result,鈥� O鈥橣lynn recalls, laughing.
鈥淚 could finally force him to drive this year, which is a bonus. I鈥檇 say, 鈥業t鈥檚 your turn,鈥� and I鈥檇 go to sleep and wake up and he鈥檇 be eyeballs over the steering wheel, wide eyed, and I鈥檇 say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e good, just keep going.鈥濃��
sports@quesnelobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
