VIVID VEGAS MEMORIES

Shad Mayfield, Tie-Down Champ

There are many ways to describe the 10 go-rounds of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo® in fabulous Las Vegas, but one of our favorite descriptions came recently from 2020 saddle bronc and all-around champion Stetson Wright.

“What comes to my mind about Vegas and the NFR? Big money and rank stock,” said Wright, simply and matter-of-factly, during a break from promotional appearances at the new Circa Resort in downtown Las Vegas.

He and several of his fellow world champs were back in Vegas this spring to help kick off the excitement for 2021, as the rodeo is scheduled to make a triumphant return to the city that glitters.

“Everything in Vegas is just unreal, from when you leave the Thomas & Mack Center, to all the fun stuff all around the city,” Wright said. “There’s nothing about being a part of the NFR and Vegas that isn’t good. Actually, the only thing that sucks about the NFR is it comes to an end every year.”

It’s a return home to Las Vegas in 2021 after a year in Texas due to the COVID-19 pandemic and everyone is thrilled, especially the competitors. For most of the world champs, it means a return to the dirt of Las Vegas while other competitors can’t wait to taste and smell it for the first time.

Steer wrestler Jacob Edler, who won a world title in his first NFR appearance in 2020, believes he can understand how different Vegas will be despite having never performed in the Thomas & Mack Center.

“When I think about Las Vegas, I think about energy,” Edler said. “I’ve never gotten to come here as a contestant, but I came once as a spectator. Even by just sitting in the stands in the Thomas & Mack Center, you could feel all of the energy in that building when you step inside. Just being there watching was very motivational and there wasn’t any other place in the world that I stepped into that ever felt like that. Texas did great last year with all the circumstances that happened, but it’s not Vegas. You don’t feel the same energy in that building and now that I will (hopefully) finally compete in Vegas, I just expect it to be a little bit more upbeat, a little more tense, and a lot more exciting.”

Shad Mayfield, the 2020 tie-down roping world champion, competed in Las Vegas prior to earning his first gold buckle last year in Texas, and can’t wait to return and defend his title.

“Being in my first NFR in Vegas (2019) was a

All-around champ Stetson Wright says, "The only thing that sucks about the NFR is that it ends."

special moment for me,” Mayfield said. “I got to ride in for the grand entry, and I will never forget that first go-round there in Vegas. That’s when nerves really hit you and you kind of get a real feeling that you’re at the NFR. We come into the arena for the calf roping from the tunnel, so you don’t really get to see what you’re coming into until you are riding into the box and they’re calling your name. Then the crowd is going crazy and that’s pretty exciting to see. The Vegas entrance is unlike any other rodeo because usually you can see everything because other rodeo arenas are so open. It’s a cool feeling and it just pumps up the adrenaline. The spotlight is on you and it’s go-time. There isn’t any other feeling like it.”

Kaycee Feild, a 5-time bareback world champion, loves the excitement of Vegas like everyone else, but also knows that he and the other competitors are in for the most difficult 10 rodeos of their lives.

“Vegas and the NFR are awesome, and it comes down to who is the toughest guy after 10 nights,” Feild said. “I don’t know why, but it just seems like the NFR after 10 nights and consecutive rodeos, it’s like, ‘man, who’s the toughest Iron Man.’” To get through those 10 nights, Feild said the fans are a big help. And after a long career in rodeo, he admits that he never heard the folks in the stands until his first NFR. “The energy in that arena is indescribable,” Feild said. “I’ve been on thousands and thousands of bucking horses, but I never heard the fans until here in Las Vegas. Especially during the 10th round because as soon as you nod your head, you hear the stands and the fans during every single second of that eight-second ride. You don’t get that anywhere else and you can’t replicate it, whether “I don't know why, but it be any other extreme sport, you can’t replicate the energy it just seems like the we experience in Las Vegas at the NFR and in the Thomas & NFR after 10 nights and Mack Center.” The fact of the matter is consecutive rodeos, that earning a trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in it's like, ‘man, who's the Las Vegas is a dream come true for each of the competitors, no toughest Iron Man.’” matter the discipline. And the cowboys and cowgirls are the

type of folks who don’t take any of it for granted, especially Edler.

“It’s incredible to think about the NFR and being in it,” Edler said. “I’ve dreamed about it and worked at it since I was a kid, and this is really a dream come true. Seeing all of your hard work that you have been putting in for years and years finally come to fruition is humbling. And being able to make a living doing what you love is amazing. There’s a lot of people who dream of doing this for a living and for it finally to become a reality for me, I’ve got to pinch myself every now and again, just to make sure I’m not dreaming. It’s the best feeling.”

Edler’s path was winding and a final stop of each year at the NFR was never guaranteed. And for much of his career, it seemed like a fantasy.

“If I was writing my story in rodeo and the NFR, I’d definitely have to put struggle in that story,” Edler said. “I finally had as good of a year as I possibly could have last year. I won the world and I won the average, but it was truly a Cinderella story leading up to that point. I didn’t grow up in a rodeo family. I was just a farm boy from Iowa and I didn’t start riding a horse until I was 13-years old. I had to really work hard at it every single day and there was nothing that really came easy. After every year of rodeo, it seemed like I’d have piles of credit card debt. I’d have to go to work for about four months straight and get it all paid off just to start at zero again the next year. So, if you’re willing to put in the work and put up with the struggle, great things can happen, but you have to be able to handle that physically and mentally and take your punches. But, again, if you put in enough time and hard work, your goals will finally come to the surface. At least that is what happened for me.”

Las Vegas and the NFR is always in the dreams for pretty much anyone who appreciates the country & Western lifestyle. And for contestants, earning a trip to the NFR … in Las Vegas … is a driving force.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time now and sometimes it’s hard to find motivation to prepare,” Feild said. “It’s hard to find that motivation to really set your goals higher than you’ve ever set them before and to train harder than you’ve ever have. But coming back to Vegas after being absent last year, there’s a certain amount of excitement--and motivation--to prepare to get back here. It gives you motivation because you can’t replicate the NFR in Vegas. Plus, I think I have an advantage because to get ready for this event, those 10 grueling days, I don’t think anybody else can prepare like me because I’ve seen it come here for the first time in 1985, I’ve been here and won a world championship, and I’ve watched it leave and go somewhere else. And now to come back and be familiar with the city and familiar with the venues is something very exciting. And that energy adds a whole new level of pressure, and not a lot of guys can handle that pressure.”

It’s Vegas.

It’s the NFR.

It’s big money and rank stock.

Stetson Wright--and the rest of them--said so.