Six-time All-Around World Champion Cowboy Trevor Brazile suffered a second-degree sprain and partial tear of the MCL in his right knee during the ninth round of the Wrangler NFR, but will not require surgery. Brazile will team rope at the SandHills Stock Show & Rodeo, in Odessa, Texas, Jan. 2-3, 7-10, but, upon the advice of Dr. Tandy Freeman, will not compete in tie-down roping until March.
Steer wrestler Wade Sumpter and bareback rider Jessy Davis will each be sidelined for six months after undergoing surgery to repair injuries they suffered while competing in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Sumpter, of Fowler, Colo., had entered the Wrangler NFR ranked No. 1 in the world with a regular-season record for earnings, but tore the pectoral muscle in his chest in the first round and eventually had to withdraw.
Dr. Tandy Freeman performed Sumpter's surgery in Dallas on Dec. 17 to reattach the muscle to the bone. Sumpter will begin rehab in about three months.
"I'm planning on coming back in early June, just before the Reno Rodeo," Sumpter said. "It's going to be an interesting challenge. My goal for the year is to qualify for the (Wrangler) NFR and I think I can get to enough rodeos to make it happen. If I go about my rehab the right way, I'll dang sure be competitive."
Davis, of Payson, Utah, underwent three hours of surgery in Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 19, in which Dr. Pepper Murray reattached the rotator cuff in Davis' left shoulder and reattached a ligament to his bicep.
"I might have needed to do this three years ago," Davis said, "It always hurt me (while competing), but never enough to keep me out until the NFR. It was really bad timing."
Davis suffered a dislocation of his left shoulder in Round 2 of the Wrangler NFR, and when strapping the shoulder down in the ensuing two rounds failed to do any good, he too withdrew from the rodeo. He dropped from the 7th to 15th in the world standings.
