Cowboys' backgrounds include more than just rodeo | Sports | Idaho ...

CALDWELL ? It shouldn?t come as a surprise that a lot of cowboys competing this week at the Caldwell Night Rodeo grew up wrestling or playing football.

?Those are the tough sports,? Clint Cannon said.

Cannon played college football at Stephen F. Austin before transferring to Prairie View A&M, where the world?s fifth-rated bareback rider got his start in rodeo.

He is quick to point out that his football background is a huge reason why he has enjoyed a successful career in rodeo.

?The big thing football did was teach me how to train,? said Cannon, who said he was recruited to play football at Boise State and turned down an offer to visit the campus to stay closer to home.

Cannon said he gained an understanding of the importance of film review, a huge part of football. He watched clips of his own attempts and even scouts horses, though he said animal behavior is difficult to predict.

?I?ve learned to treat it more like a business and a lot of cowboys treat it more like a party. I learned through football ? the time schedules, the meetings, meetings and meetings ? how to prepare. Football really brought that out in me,?? he said.

While he was at Stephen F. Austin, current Auburn head coach Gene Chizik was the Lumberjacks? defensive coordinator.

?He liked me because I was a country boy,? said Cannon, who grew up in Waller, Texas.

One cowboy who wound up at Boise State was Andy Weldon, who played for the Broncos in 2003 and 2004 as a tight end.

Now he?s a steer wrestler who had the fastest time in the second round Wednesday night. But because he got a no-time on his first attempt, Weldon will miss Saturday night?s championship finals.

Weldon said the ?physicality? of steer wrestling is what attracted him to that event. Plus, at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, he?s got the size need to be a ?bulldogger.?

?I think any sport that you play helps you in your other sports,? said Weldon, who lives in Greenleaf and also works as an agriculture appraiser for Northwest Farm Credit. ?When I played at Boise State, we had some big pressure situations. Football and rodeo may be different sports, but they are kind of the same mentally.?

Weldon grew up in Sandpoint and moved to California, where he did junior rodeo events and had done some roping. He opted for football, and played two years at a junior college before heading to Boise State. Now he?s back as a part-time cowboy.

?You get your contact fix,? Weldon said. ?And to rope at this level, you really have to do it your whole life. I?m not near good enough.?

J.R. Vezain certainly was good enough as a high school wrestler. He won a state championships in Wyoming at 130 and 140 pounds. He said the discipline it takes to be a successful wrestler carries over to the dirt arena.

?They go hand-in-hand,? Vezain said. ?Rodeo is a little more physically demanding. Wrestling teaches you how to get in shape, how to control your body, how to eat right, how to train and mental toughness.?

Vezain won the bareback bronc riding championship in the National College Finals Rodeo this year. He didn?t have the same result this week, as he failed to reach Saturday?s finals.

?Wrestling and rodeo are both thrill sports,? he said. ?I like rodeo better, but when you step on the mat in the state finals it?s a pretty big thrill, too.?

The physical aspect both sports is unquestionable, but Cannon said rodeo takes the cake.

?Not knocking football, I?ve never done anything more physical than rodeo in my life. It?s only eight seconds. One ride is like playing an entire football game, and we?ll ride two or three times a weekend.?

Vezain agreed.

?You?ve got to grit it out for six to 9 minutes on the mat,? he said. ?In rodeo, it?s only eight seconds but you?re strapped to 1,500 to 2,000-pound animal.?

NOTE: Idaho steer wrestler Olin Hannum, a former backup quarterback at North Carolina State, also failed to reach Saturday?s finals.

Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/08/20/1766244/cowboys-backgrounds-include-more.html

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