q
Features
Heavy Hitter
q q q q q q q q
Here’s To You, Mr. Robinson “As a stock contractor, you don’t make your bulls. Your bulls make you,”
T
here are just a handful of people in the world who can claim to own the two most prestigious stock-related gold buckles in the world. Jeff Robinson belongs to that elite club; but this is not information Robinson will tell you himself. If you knew nothing about the PBR and found yourself sitting next to him at a bar in the South Point last October, you’d probably just conclude the guy next to you was a cowboy from North Carolina. You might learn he owned a bull or two (given enough time and a long enough conversation) but that would probably be about it. You definitely would not find out the unassuming man next to you had won both the World Champion Bucking Bull and PBR Stock Contractor of the Year titles. Robinson is quiet and not a self-promoter. He lets his bulls speak of his success. “As a stock contractor, you don’t make your bulls. Your bulls make you,” he affirmed. Robinson is modest about his accomplishments, but statistics and records don’t lie. If you look at the list of bulls who were contenders for 2010 PBR World Champion Bucking Bull, Robinson owned at least part of five of the seven. Chick-
28
en on a Chain, Voodoo Child, Major Payne (aka Super Duty), I’m a Gangster (aka Uncle Buck) and Highway 12 all ride on a Robinson rig. Robinson actually has both a west coast and east coast rig to take bulls to Built Ford Tough Series events this season, with the west coast bulls staying in Fort Collins, Colorado between shows. Another rig hauls to minor league events. “I think we have about 100 bulls that can go to Touring Pros and 45-50 that can go to Built Ford Toughs,” Robinson said when asked. Having that much talent is exactly why Robinson won 2010 PBR Stock Contractor of the Year. Having an eye for talent is why he won Bull of the Year in 2007 with Chicken on a Chain. “I about made myself sick worrying about Bull of the Year,” recalled Robinson. “2007 was the first year where a bull also had to win Finals (not just the cowboy’s vote). And I knew Chicken won the cowboy vote, but he still had to perform the best in Las Vegas to win. I was pretty proud, it was like one of your kids winning or achieving something great. I’d never won anything like that before so it is pretty memorable. “When you win Bull of the Year in the PBR that means you have the best bull in the world. It
The American Bucking Bull q Jan/Feb 2011
andy watson photo
—Jeff Robinson, PBR Stock Contractor of the Year
q