Life can’t stop him.
A year after tearing his groin at Madison Square Garden, world champion bull rider Daylon Swearingen returned to the World’s Most Famous Arena over the weekend looking for another thrilling 24 seconds atop a beast.
“Last year here I actually tore my groin from my pelvis,” the Piffard, New York, cowboy told The Post Friday. “Groins are like a pretty big injury — not many people tear them completely.”
Swearingen, 24, suffered the gruesome injury in the second round of the Professional Bull Riders league’s crown jewel in the Unleash the Beast series.
Riders must hold on to the competing bull for eight full seconds to earn points toward millions of dollars in prize money.
“I had a partial tear and then, all of a sudden, it was a complete tear,” he said. “That put me out for about six months.”
World champion bull rider Daylon Swearingen returned to the World’s Most Famous Arena at the weekend looking for another thrilling 24 seconds atop a beast. Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post
Now that everything is on the mend, the 5-foot-6, 150-pound star is unfazed about returning to the big stage at the Garden, saying it’s all about “keeping your mental game on top.”
“Anything can be disappointing if you let it,” Swearingen says with a hint of light south from his Midtown hotel. “The way I see it, that’s part of bull riding.
“My body already knows how to ride a bull and as long as my mind knows that I can ride the bull too, you know, and I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “Make sure you hit the reload button and go do it, do what you have to do.”
Swearingen is no stranger to second chances — in fact, they run in his family.
Swearingen, 24, suffered the gruesome injury in the second round of the Professional Bull Riders league crown event in the Unleash the Beast series. Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post He’s not impressed to return to the big stage at the Garden, saying it’s all about “keeping your mental game on top.” Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post
He was just a child when his mother Carrie Swearingen was shot in the head by her estranged husband. She miraculously survived and moved Daylon and his younger brother Colton from South Carolina to her hometown of Piffard.
“You can’t tell by looking at my mother, but if you pull the back of her hair up, you can see it. He still has 22 pieces of shrapnel in there,” Daylon said.
“I think that’s where a lot of my tenacity comes from — it probably comes from my mom. There’s always a chance when something bad traumatizes you, you can choose a path. And she definitely chose the path – going back to school to become a nurse.”
Carrie, now a registered nurse, was instrumental in her son’s bull riding ambitions, taking him from riding at home to riding goats as a youngster.
“I was always involved in rodeo, me and my brother always were,” Daylon recalled. “It sounds bad but we used to ride my mum. Pretend she was a bull. When we were little we put a little rope on her and tried to ride her like she was a bull.”
His mother was instrumental in her son’s bull riding ambitions, taking him from horse riding at home to goat riding as a youngster. Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post Swearingen prepares for his first ride in Round One of the 2024 PBR World Championship Race Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post He goes up against 40 of the world’s best bull riders chasing the gold buckle championship in a multi-city competition. . Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post
Daylon has shown his love for his mother to his 72,000 Instagram followers, posting about him winning the highest honor in his own profession — the DAISY Award.
“Beyond proud of my mom,” he wrote in June with a photo of them smiling together.
It was a short trip to the top for Daylon, who turned pro in 2018 and has $2.5 million in lifetime earnings.
He currently sits 24th in the Unleash the Beast series with 62 points and closes out the 2022 season championship with 1,567.50 points.
At MSG, Daylon goes up against 40 of the world’s best bull riders vying for the gold buckle championship in a multi-city competition. Finals in Texas in May.
“I’m excited to be back,” said the young cattle boss. “Every time you come to Madison Square Garden, you know it’s a different atmosphere in there and you can’t describe it properly.”
Swearingen currently sits 24th in the Unleash the Beast series with 62 points and closes out his 2022 championship season with 1,567.50 points. Stefan Jeremiah for the New York Post
On Friday’s opening night, Daylon acted “in one great moment,” sooner than he expected.
“I was just sitting down and he pulled me out and pushed me,” she said “As soon as I thought about the changes I needed to make, I was lying on the ground.”
He made up for it on Saturday, scoring 85.5 points by hanging onto Nighttime Crime’s cow the entire time after vowing that he would “stay with that bitch for eight seconds.” He fell short, however, during the final round of Sunday’s competition in 4.64 seconds. He finished the event in a tie for 13th.
“This is a very humbling sport, you know. You can be at the top in a week,” Daylon said. “I mean, even in 2022 when I win it. A week [I was] run on a stretcher, next week I won two events, so it’s a very humbling sport. Just in and out all season.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
