Post by cowgirl4life30 on Oct 20, 2006 20:25:43 GMT -5
Carrillo Twins Announce Retirement from Bull Riding
By Chris McManes Tiger Tales Media
Posted Friday, October 20, 2006
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WASHINGTON (October 19, 2006) -- Adam and Gilbert Carrillo, who helped launched the Professional Bull Riders in 1992 and competed in 11 consecutive Built Ford Tough World Finals, announced their retirements today. The twins combined to win more than $1 million at PBR events and capture 12 Built Ford Tough Series event championships.
“I feel like we’re at the age to retire,” Gilbert said. “I think we’ve accomplished more than any other twin brothers in bull riding history. We decided to retire from the sport rather than have the sport retire us.”
The Carrillos, who live in the Stephenville, Texas, area, said their desire to stay home now outweighs their longing to compete against the world’s rankest bulls and top riders. They will turn 35 on Oct. 28.
“I’m comfortable with what I’ve done in bull riding,” Adam said. “I’m really happy with what I’ve accomplished. I just don’t have the same drive, fire and desire to compete that I once had.”
The Carrillos were two of just three cowboys to compete in every PBR World Finals in Las Vegas from 1994-2004. Injuries finally caught up with the 5-foot-5-inch twins in 2005, but not before they seared their names in the consciousness of PBR fans and fellow competitors.
“They were two young guys that used to love to ride bulls and had an amazing talent,” said PBR President Ty Murray, with whom the Carrillos lived for about a year and a half in the early 1990s. “They were really little guys in a really big world. I think that they’ll always be connected with the sport in some way or another just because they love it so much. I’m just glad that they’re not connected to it riding anymore.”
Gilbert and his wife, Julie, will have four bulls competing in the American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) World Bucking Bull Classic Finals at the South Coast Equestrian Center in Las Vegas on Oct. 30-31. Freak Show, a bull they co-own with James Sills, is one of the PBR’s top 2-year-olds and has won three futurity event titles in 2006. Gilbert, Julie, Sills and Bill Summers own Cowboy’s Payday, a leading 3-year-old. This bull, also known as “69,” won first place among 186 bucking bulls and collected $50,000 for capturing the ABBI Wild Card Classic in Enid, Okla., on Oct. 7.
Here’s a look at each of the brothers’ PBR accomplishments individually:
ADAM CARRILLO:
Adam has four career PBR Cup series event titles to his credit, including a 1998 victory in Guthrie, Okla., and back-to-back wins in Tunica, Miss., and Louisville, Ky., in 1999. He calls the consecutive triumphs his biggest PBR thrill, particularly considering that he was in the second year of his battle with Lyme disease, an incurable bacterial infection that leads to overall fatigue, fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle aches and joint pain.
“My whole body ached,” Adam said. “Every time I got on a bull, every joint in my body ached. One week I’d feel really good, and the next week I’d feel cruddy.”
Adam’s injuries include two broken right ankles, a fractured left arm and a broken left eye socket and cheek, among others.
Adam rode James Harper’s Jit for 94.5 points in his 1999 Louisville win and matched the score on D&H Cattle Co.’s Mossy Oak Mudslinger during his 2001 Built Ford Tough Series triumph in Columbus, Ga. He won a PBR career-high $68,389 in 2001 and has career earnings of $367,002.
GILBERT CARRILLO:
Gilbert won eight PBR Cup series contests and $683,436 in PBR competitions. He won twice during the PBR’s second season (1995), in San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas. He also strode in Victory Lane in Charlotte, N.C., (1998), Phoenix (1999), Greensboro, N.C., (1999), New Orleans (2001), Worcester, Mass., (2002) and Oklahoma City (2003). His $57,895 payday in New Orleans established a then-PBR record for most money won at a single-day event.
After breaking both bones in his lower left leg in July of 1996, Gilbert returned to ride two of the rankest bulls at the time during the ’96 PBR Finals – Terry Williams’ Red Wolf (for 90 points in the short round) and Dan Russell’s Trick or Treat. He finished sixth in the average and won $44,300.
In 2001, Gilbert recorded the highest-marked ride of the regular season with a 96-pointer on Herrington Cattle Co.’s Perfect Storm. His 96 on Herrington’s Blueberry Wine was the highest-scoring ride of 2002. Both trips are tied for the second-highest scores in PBR history.
Gilbert sustained another serious injury in June of 2002 when a bull tossed him on his head, cracking his fifth cervical vertebra (C-5) and breaking C-6. He had the bones fused in July with a bone graft from his hip and was cleared to ride at the October World Finals.
“I was scared for my life like I’ve never been scared before,” Gilbert said. Despite his jitters, he placed second in round two with a 90.5 on D&H’s Gusto, and scored 90 the next night to finish 11th overall and win $32,250.
“I was on top of the world,” he said. “I felt like I won a world title.”
FAN FAVORITES AND PBR PIONEERS:
Adam and Gilbert were two of the PBR’s original 21 shareholders in 1992 when they put up $1,000 each to help get the fledgling organization off the ground. The PBR staged its first events in 1994 and the Carrillos competed in the inaugural PBR World Finals that year. Because of their diminutive stature, pleasant personalities and riding ability, fans loved them throughout their careers.
“The Carrillos were always favorites with the fans, and their energy at events was always so enthusiastic,” PBR CEO Randy Bernard said. “I wish them well with their future endeavors.”
Adam and Gilbert are appreciative of the support they’ve enjoyed from their friends, fans, sponsors and family. They’ve starred in two national TV commercials, for Bud Light and Casa Fiesta Foods. Gilbert was also featured on Discovery Health Channel’s Impact Survivor Series because of his multiple injuries and determination to continue competing in the world’s most dangerous sport.
“We’ve had terrific support through the years from our great sponsors and all our wonderful fans,” Gilbert said. “They have supported us through the good times and the bad, and our friends and family have been with us when we needed them the most.”
HOW THEY GOT STARTED:
The Carrillos have been riding bulls for nearly 22 years, ever since former PBR Bullfighter Gary “Roach” Hedeman took them under his wing when they were 13. The El Paso, Texas, natives’ success in amateur and high-school rodeos earned them full scholarships to Odessa (Texas) College from 1989-91. Their parents, John (who died in 1999) and Anne, wholeheartedly supported their youngest sons’ passion for bull riding.
Adam qualified for two Wrangler National Finals Rodeos (1993, 1995) and placed fourth in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world standings in 1995. Gilbert began his professional career as 1992 PRCA Rookie of the Year. He qualified for the Wrangler NFR that year and in 1998. He won the now-defunct Bull Riders Only world championship in 1994, a year after nearly dying when a bull stomped him in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He had to have his spleen and one-third of his pancreas removed.
WHAT THEY’RE DOING NOW:
Adam, who does promotional TV work, and his wife, Heidi, live between Stephenville and Dublin, Texas, with their daughter, Haden (3-28-98), and son, Westley (4-22-02). Adam raises and breeds bulls on their 210-acre ranch, and earns income by allowing people to fish and hunt there, and by serving as a guide for deer and duck hunting. He and Heidi own the Super C Welding and Construction Co., which does custom welding and fencing and has been contracted to perform fencing and reclamation work for a natural gas drilling company. Drilling for gas will also start on their ranch. Heidi is a Yoga and Pilates instructor at the Fitness Center in Stephenville.
Gilbert and Julie live in Stephenville with their son, Chase (9-11-00), and daughter, Cheney (5-2-02). They founded the 4C’s Bucking Bulls & Training Facility on their ranch, where Gilbert trains his and other people’s bulls how to buck and perform in the arena. Julie also sells bucking stock and equine insurance. See www.4cbuckingbulls.com for more information.
By Chris McManes Tiger Tales Media
Posted Friday, October 20, 2006
E-mail this page Printer-friendly page
WASHINGTON (October 19, 2006) -- Adam and Gilbert Carrillo, who helped launched the Professional Bull Riders in 1992 and competed in 11 consecutive Built Ford Tough World Finals, announced their retirements today. The twins combined to win more than $1 million at PBR events and capture 12 Built Ford Tough Series event championships.
“I feel like we’re at the age to retire,” Gilbert said. “I think we’ve accomplished more than any other twin brothers in bull riding history. We decided to retire from the sport rather than have the sport retire us.”
The Carrillos, who live in the Stephenville, Texas, area, said their desire to stay home now outweighs their longing to compete against the world’s rankest bulls and top riders. They will turn 35 on Oct. 28.
“I’m comfortable with what I’ve done in bull riding,” Adam said. “I’m really happy with what I’ve accomplished. I just don’t have the same drive, fire and desire to compete that I once had.”
The Carrillos were two of just three cowboys to compete in every PBR World Finals in Las Vegas from 1994-2004. Injuries finally caught up with the 5-foot-5-inch twins in 2005, but not before they seared their names in the consciousness of PBR fans and fellow competitors.
“They were two young guys that used to love to ride bulls and had an amazing talent,” said PBR President Ty Murray, with whom the Carrillos lived for about a year and a half in the early 1990s. “They were really little guys in a really big world. I think that they’ll always be connected with the sport in some way or another just because they love it so much. I’m just glad that they’re not connected to it riding anymore.”
Gilbert and his wife, Julie, will have four bulls competing in the American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) World Bucking Bull Classic Finals at the South Coast Equestrian Center in Las Vegas on Oct. 30-31. Freak Show, a bull they co-own with James Sills, is one of the PBR’s top 2-year-olds and has won three futurity event titles in 2006. Gilbert, Julie, Sills and Bill Summers own Cowboy’s Payday, a leading 3-year-old. This bull, also known as “69,” won first place among 186 bucking bulls and collected $50,000 for capturing the ABBI Wild Card Classic in Enid, Okla., on Oct. 7.
Here’s a look at each of the brothers’ PBR accomplishments individually:
ADAM CARRILLO:
Adam has four career PBR Cup series event titles to his credit, including a 1998 victory in Guthrie, Okla., and back-to-back wins in Tunica, Miss., and Louisville, Ky., in 1999. He calls the consecutive triumphs his biggest PBR thrill, particularly considering that he was in the second year of his battle with Lyme disease, an incurable bacterial infection that leads to overall fatigue, fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle aches and joint pain.
“My whole body ached,” Adam said. “Every time I got on a bull, every joint in my body ached. One week I’d feel really good, and the next week I’d feel cruddy.”
Adam’s injuries include two broken right ankles, a fractured left arm and a broken left eye socket and cheek, among others.
Adam rode James Harper’s Jit for 94.5 points in his 1999 Louisville win and matched the score on D&H Cattle Co.’s Mossy Oak Mudslinger during his 2001 Built Ford Tough Series triumph in Columbus, Ga. He won a PBR career-high $68,389 in 2001 and has career earnings of $367,002.
GILBERT CARRILLO:
Gilbert won eight PBR Cup series contests and $683,436 in PBR competitions. He won twice during the PBR’s second season (1995), in San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas. He also strode in Victory Lane in Charlotte, N.C., (1998), Phoenix (1999), Greensboro, N.C., (1999), New Orleans (2001), Worcester, Mass., (2002) and Oklahoma City (2003). His $57,895 payday in New Orleans established a then-PBR record for most money won at a single-day event.
After breaking both bones in his lower left leg in July of 1996, Gilbert returned to ride two of the rankest bulls at the time during the ’96 PBR Finals – Terry Williams’ Red Wolf (for 90 points in the short round) and Dan Russell’s Trick or Treat. He finished sixth in the average and won $44,300.
In 2001, Gilbert recorded the highest-marked ride of the regular season with a 96-pointer on Herrington Cattle Co.’s Perfect Storm. His 96 on Herrington’s Blueberry Wine was the highest-scoring ride of 2002. Both trips are tied for the second-highest scores in PBR history.
Gilbert sustained another serious injury in June of 2002 when a bull tossed him on his head, cracking his fifth cervical vertebra (C-5) and breaking C-6. He had the bones fused in July with a bone graft from his hip and was cleared to ride at the October World Finals.
“I was scared for my life like I’ve never been scared before,” Gilbert said. Despite his jitters, he placed second in round two with a 90.5 on D&H’s Gusto, and scored 90 the next night to finish 11th overall and win $32,250.
“I was on top of the world,” he said. “I felt like I won a world title.”
FAN FAVORITES AND PBR PIONEERS:
Adam and Gilbert were two of the PBR’s original 21 shareholders in 1992 when they put up $1,000 each to help get the fledgling organization off the ground. The PBR staged its first events in 1994 and the Carrillos competed in the inaugural PBR World Finals that year. Because of their diminutive stature, pleasant personalities and riding ability, fans loved them throughout their careers.
“The Carrillos were always favorites with the fans, and their energy at events was always so enthusiastic,” PBR CEO Randy Bernard said. “I wish them well with their future endeavors.”
Adam and Gilbert are appreciative of the support they’ve enjoyed from their friends, fans, sponsors and family. They’ve starred in two national TV commercials, for Bud Light and Casa Fiesta Foods. Gilbert was also featured on Discovery Health Channel’s Impact Survivor Series because of his multiple injuries and determination to continue competing in the world’s most dangerous sport.
“We’ve had terrific support through the years from our great sponsors and all our wonderful fans,” Gilbert said. “They have supported us through the good times and the bad, and our friends and family have been with us when we needed them the most.”
HOW THEY GOT STARTED:
The Carrillos have been riding bulls for nearly 22 years, ever since former PBR Bullfighter Gary “Roach” Hedeman took them under his wing when they were 13. The El Paso, Texas, natives’ success in amateur and high-school rodeos earned them full scholarships to Odessa (Texas) College from 1989-91. Their parents, John (who died in 1999) and Anne, wholeheartedly supported their youngest sons’ passion for bull riding.
Adam qualified for two Wrangler National Finals Rodeos (1993, 1995) and placed fourth in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world standings in 1995. Gilbert began his professional career as 1992 PRCA Rookie of the Year. He qualified for the Wrangler NFR that year and in 1998. He won the now-defunct Bull Riders Only world championship in 1994, a year after nearly dying when a bull stomped him in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He had to have his spleen and one-third of his pancreas removed.
WHAT THEY’RE DOING NOW:
Adam, who does promotional TV work, and his wife, Heidi, live between Stephenville and Dublin, Texas, with their daughter, Haden (3-28-98), and son, Westley (4-22-02). Adam raises and breeds bulls on their 210-acre ranch, and earns income by allowing people to fish and hunt there, and by serving as a guide for deer and duck hunting. He and Heidi own the Super C Welding and Construction Co., which does custom welding and fencing and has been contracted to perform fencing and reclamation work for a natural gas drilling company. Drilling for gas will also start on their ranch. Heidi is a Yoga and Pilates instructor at the Fitness Center in Stephenville.
Gilbert and Julie live in Stephenville with their son, Chase (9-11-00), and daughter, Cheney (5-2-02). They founded the 4C’s Bucking Bulls & Training Facility on their ranch, where Gilbert trains his and other people’s bulls how to buck and perform in the arena. Julie also sells bucking stock and equine insurance. See www.4cbuckingbulls.com for more information.
