LAS VEGAS – The bright lights of the City of Entertainment can do some funny things for many who arrive in town for the National Finals Rodeo for the first time.
Bareback rider Bradlee Miller seems unfazed. He’s placed in three of four go-rounds with two wins, the most recent coming Sunday night when he rode Pete Carr Pro Rode’s Secret’s Out for 88.5 points. That was worth another $33,687 payday and pushed his NFR earnings to $103,998.
And he still has six nights remaining at ProRodeo’s grand championship.
“Last night was a blur; there was nothing fun about it,” he said of his Saturday performance on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Captain Hook, which resulted in a 62-point ride. “That horse pulled me harder than I’ve ever been pulled before. It felt like tying your arm to a full-speed freight train and without it slowing down. She pulled me around the arena like a rag doll.
“I’m just glad to do good (Sunday) and pick myself back up a little bit.”
He did more than that. He pushed his season total to $241,363 and is third in the world standings while posting the second highest score of the finale so far.
“This rodeo pays more in one round than most rodeos you go to throughout the year, so you have to treat it like a new rodeo every day,” said Miller, 21, of Huntsville, Texas. “Yesterday is in the past. Today is new. I’m glad it went good.
“Our first pen was our nice horses with some tricks to them. The second day was semi-eliminators, and yesterday was the true eliminators. I think I drew one of the strongest ones in the pen, so today, going back to the nicer pen, it sure was nice to give the body a rest to be able to go out and have fun.”
The NFR is a unique event. It’s rodeo’s Super Bowl and World Series wrapped in a 10-day affair in the Nevada desert. Similar to the playoffs in more traditional sports, only the top 15 contestants in each event qualify. Sometimes just making it to Las Vegas is the dream; sometimes there’s more to it, and Miller in the middle of it all
“This experience is everything and some from what I was expecting,” said Miller, a senior on the Sam Houston State University rodeo team coached by his father, Bubba. “I knew this rodeo was going to be awesome, but just the atmosphere in Las Vegas with all the rodeo fans, I’ve gotten to meet people from all across the globe that are here to watch the rodeo and people who have been here for 40 years.
“It’s just awesome to see the crowd this draws.”