Rob Smets – the “Kamikaze Kid” – worked 28 years protecting cowboys before retiring in 2006 after breaking his neck for the third time. Smets was selected by the riders to work nine consecutive PBR World Finals, and also won five World Champion Freestyle Bullfighting titles. A legend in the rodeo and bull riding world, Smets’ reputation for fearlessness once prompted Ty Murray to quip that with Smets in the arena, he’d ride a mountain lion.
PBR Hall of Fame
Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award
Awarded in 2011
