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ARCHDALE — Jerome Davis remembers visiting the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame as a teenager, marveling at the photographs and memorabilia of his larger-than-life cowboy heroes.
Fast-forward a few decades, and now it’s his photo — and his inspiring life story — that wannabe cowboys will be admiring.
On July 18, the 53-year-old former world-champion bull rider was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, a remarkable accomplishment for a small-town guy who bucked rodeo history in 1995 by becoming the first PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) World Championship winner from east of the Mississippi River.
“This is one of the highlights of my life,” Davis said Monday. “I’ve had a lot of other achievements, ... but this one to me is a big deal. This is the one that, when I was a kid growing up wanting to be a cowboy, I dreamed of this happening one day. There’s only so many that go to that level, and for them to consider me to be at that level, that’s pretty awesome.”
Tiffany Davis, Jerome’s wife, accompanied him to the ceremony at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His mother, Pam Simmons, also attended.
“I had me a big ol’ speech lined up,” Davis said with a chuckle, “but when it came time to talk, I got choked up. It went a little south, but I got through it, and it was still a good time at the end of the day.”
Davis, who rode his first bull at age 11, knew early on that he wanted to become a professional bull rider. Although he also competed in other events such as saddle bronc riding and calf roping, bull riding was the itch he scratched the most. In 1990, he won the N.C. Rodeo High School Bull Riding Championship.
In 1992, as a freshman competing for the rodeo team at Odessa College in Odessa, Texas, he won the Bull Riding Championship.
The following year, competing professionally in the PRCA, Davis qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo. He would qualify the next four years, as well, never finishing lower than fifth place.
His signature moment came at the 1995 finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the 23-year-old Archdale cowboy won the world bull riding title. Prior to his win, no rider from east of the Mississippi had ever won the championship.
Davis’ career came to an abrupt halt on March 14, 1998, when he was violently thrown from a bull at an event in Fort Worth, Texas. He landed headfirst in the dirt, fracturing a vertebra and paralyzing him from the chest down.
After the accident, Davis found other ways to remain active in the world of bull riding. He began raising bucking bulls for the rodeo circuits, teaching at bull riding schools and clinics, coaching the PBR team league’s Carolina Cowboys — which earned him Coach of the Year honors earlier this year — and hosting countless rodeo events at his ranch in Archdale.
Davis was one of 10 inductees at this year’s Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame ceremony.
[email protected] | 336-888-3579
Continue reading...
Fast-forward a few decades, and now it’s his photo — and his inspiring life story — that wannabe cowboys will be admiring.
On July 18, the 53-year-old former world-champion bull rider was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, a remarkable accomplishment for a small-town guy who bucked rodeo history in 1995 by becoming the first PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) World Championship winner from east of the Mississippi River.
“This is one of the highlights of my life,” Davis said Monday. “I’ve had a lot of other achievements, ... but this one to me is a big deal. This is the one that, when I was a kid growing up wanting to be a cowboy, I dreamed of this happening one day. There’s only so many that go to that level, and for them to consider me to be at that level, that’s pretty awesome.”
Tiffany Davis, Jerome’s wife, accompanied him to the ceremony at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His mother, Pam Simmons, also attended.
“I had me a big ol’ speech lined up,” Davis said with a chuckle, “but when it came time to talk, I got choked up. It went a little south, but I got through it, and it was still a good time at the end of the day.”
Davis, who rode his first bull at age 11, knew early on that he wanted to become a professional bull rider. Although he also competed in other events such as saddle bronc riding and calf roping, bull riding was the itch he scratched the most. In 1990, he won the N.C. Rodeo High School Bull Riding Championship.
In 1992, as a freshman competing for the rodeo team at Odessa College in Odessa, Texas, he won the Bull Riding Championship.
The following year, competing professionally in the PRCA, Davis qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo. He would qualify the next four years, as well, never finishing lower than fifth place.
His signature moment came at the 1995 finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the 23-year-old Archdale cowboy won the world bull riding title. Prior to his win, no rider from east of the Mississippi had ever won the championship.
Davis’ career came to an abrupt halt on March 14, 1998, when he was violently thrown from a bull at an event in Fort Worth, Texas. He landed headfirst in the dirt, fracturing a vertebra and paralyzing him from the chest down.
After the accident, Davis found other ways to remain active in the world of bull riding. He began raising bucking bulls for the rodeo circuits, teaching at bull riding schools and clinics, coaching the PBR team league’s Carolina Cowboys — which earned him Coach of the Year honors earlier this year — and hosting countless rodeo events at his ranch in Archdale.
Davis was one of 10 inductees at this year’s Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame ceremony.
[email protected] | 336-888-3579
Continue reading...
