BODACIOUS – SAMMY ANDREWS’ LEGENDARY CHAMPION

by Terry Lidral

Bodacious is one of the most revered bulls in the history of the sport of bull riding.  Sammy Andrews is one of the most highly regarded stock contractors in all of rodeo.  Together, the team of Bodacious and Andrews created a timeless story that will be told on down through the generations.

The pride Sammy Andrews feels when talking about his world famous bull can be heard in his voice.  If anything, it has only grown stronger in the two decades since Bodacious passed away.

“Bodacious has been dead for 20 years,” said Andrews of his bull chosen to receive the 2019 PBR Brand of Honor.  “When I think of him and all he did, I feel pride.  It’s like having a son that excels in sports.  You take pride in everything he does.  The thing about Bodacious was that you always seemed to get your money’s worth.”

A large part of Andrews’ pride comes from knowing that his infamous bull Bodacious has had a major impact on the sport of bull riding as a whole.

“Bodacious started as the PBR took off,” Andrews told us of the professional bull riding organization that was established in 1992, just as Bodacious started his illustrious career. “It was bulls like him that helped the PBR get their notoriety.”

What Bodacious did, under Sammy Andrews’ astute supervision, was build a reputation for himself as one of the most powerful and successful bulls ever to buck on the professional bucking bull circuit.  He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s Bucking Bull of the Year award in both 1994 and 1995.  Only an elite group of bucking bulls have won that coveted title, and only a handful have won it twice.  And winning the title of PBR World Champion in 1995 made Bodacious the first bull to ever win both the PRCA and the PBR titles. 

Andrews’ star bull didn’t start out as a super star and he didn’t start out as Andrews’ bull.  In fact, the bull who came to be known as the great Bodacious was an off color Charolais/Brahman cross born in the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma.  The Merrick Ranch sold off the little yellow Charbray, as the mix was called, to a livestock auction, and for bull man Jess Kephart, the yellow calf wasn’t to his liking for a herd bull.  It was stock contractor Phil Sumner who picked up the future legend for pennies on the pound and, as a 1200 pound 3-year old, it looked like the off color Charbray sale barn bull was less than special.  But the bull known then only as J-31 learned he could launch cowboys airborne and Sumner found that no one in the amateur leagues wanted anything to do with the bull who was growing into a powerhouse.

“Bodacious was a sale barn bull,” Andrews told us matter-of-factly about his legendary world champion.  “We started our bucking bull program in 1987 and that’s what we did for bulls.  We got them from the sale barn.  Out of 200 bulls I’d buy, I’d get maybe 2 that would buck.”

When Phil Sumner offered the J-31 bull to Andrews in 1992, Andrews accepted the offer and started hauling the bull to events.

“Phil Sumner had him and said he was way too much for his bunch and felt the bull was ready for prime-time bucking.  So, he asked me if I wanted to buy the bull,” explained Andrews.  “When I got him, he was thin and had a lot of growing to do.  But he always bucked.”

Andrews named the bull Bodacious and put him on the truck with the bulls he was taking to events.  The first place Andrews entered Bodacious was the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo where he bucked off the celebrated bull rider, Cody Lambert.

“We took him to Houston and Cody Lambert had him.  He bucked Lambert off and Lambert left there with a shaving scar,” Andrews told us with a chuckle.  “Bodacious made The Finals that first year.”

As Andrews made the rounds with his yellow Charbray bull, Bodacious’ reputation as a force to be reckoned with began to dominate the bucking bull world.  The bigger the bull grew, the more strength he developed.  And, with that strength, he became notorious for his ability to devastate his riders with a power surge that left them stunned, often unconscious, and in the case of Tuff Hedeman and some other big names in the sport, badly broken.

“The stouter he got, the better he got,” Andrews said of the remarkable bull that was known for his vertical leap.  “I could see his belly from up where I was standing when he’d leap.  One day, in Athens, Texas, he had a kid on his back and that bull jumped so high leaving the chutes that he hit the kid’s head on the top of the gate.”

Eventually weighing over 1800 pounds, Bodacious’ weight came from a mass of muscle.  Amazingly, along with his intense power, the bull had a lot of speed and that, combined with his signature head back power move, made him nearly unridable in the 4 years he was on the professional tours.

“He was a pure athlete.  He’d go straight up.  That was his deal,” said Andrews, still amazed thinking about his big bull’s great athletic ability.  “I’ve never had another bull like Bodacious.”

In spite of Bodacious’ greatness in the arena, Andrews didn’t treat him any differently than his other bulls.

“He was just like the rest.  He got no special treatment.  And he was great to haul,” Andrews related.  “He wasn’t mean.  You could push him around, but you had to watch him at all times.  That bull was smart.”

Bodacious built an impressive record of 127 buck-offs for 135 outs.  His PBR record in 1995, the year he won the title of PBR World Champion Bull, he bucked off four out of five riders with an outstanding 46.4 average bull score.

But according to Andrews, Bodacious had a rider and a place that seemed to get the best of him.

“There was one place Bodacious did not buck and that was at the Lazy E in Guthrie, Oklahoma,” Andrews told us.  “And Clint Branger rode him twice there.  Bodacious wasn’t himself or maybe Clint Branger scared him,” laughed Andrews.  “But Bodacious bucked Branger off at The Finals and cost Branger a world championship.  They weren’t at the Lazy E.”

By the end of the 1995 season, Bodacious had become a bull feared by the riders.  His massive power was causing injuries, many of them severe.  In the best interest of the sport and of the riders, Sammy Andrews retired his bull at the NFR.  Swinging the gate open and walking out into the arena, Andrews watched the great Bodacious take his final victory lap.

“Bodacious was on the PRCA tour for four years.  I hated to retire him,” he said of cutting short the career of his 7 year old super star Bob Tallman called the ‘Yellow Whale.’  “I give Bob Tallman a lot of credit for helping me make the decision.”

And it was the right decision.  Instead of always being branded as the most dangerous bull in the sport of rodeo, Bodacious became a traveling celebrity and had his own New York agent.  Although he missed the bull riding events, the bull was happy with his new star role.

“We kept Bodacious with the regular bulls after he retired.  He’d come to the fence and he’d bawl when the truck left,” said Andrews of his bull’s reaction to being left behind.  “But he went everywhere to motel openings, casino openings.  He became a celebrity.”

Bodacious liked the lime-light and basked in the attention.

“We sent him out to Silverton Hotel and Casino and they put him in an open pen.   They set up the pen so that people couldn’t reach through it.  Bodacious was one of the most viewed venues they had at the event.”

In his now super high profile status, Bodacious traveled in his own monogramed trailer.  He was calm in his new life and enjoyed being the center of attention.

“Bodacious even got written up in GQ,” remarked Andrews.  “It’s nice to know that that bull had that much notoriety.”

And Bodacious is still a celebrity these days.

“People come up and talk about him.  Kids are still watching his videos.  Some people are wearing t-shirts they’ve had for twenty-five years.  Maybe we’ll bring back some t-shirts,” Andrews said thoughtfully.

Today Bodacious’ legacy is being passed down through second, third and even fourth generation genetics.  One of the most famous bulls to carry Bodacious’ genes just happens to be the only bull that shares the distinction of earning dual PBR and PRCA titles.

“Bruiser is part Bo,” Andrews told us proudly. 

Bodacious is the grandsire to Bruiser’s sire 009 Showtime.  According to Andrews, there is a definite comparison to be made between the two distinctive champions.

“Maybe it’s me through my own eyes, but I see Bo in Bruiser.  Bruiser has the air and he has the drop kick.  These two bulls are the only ones to win both the PBR and the PRCA titles and they both did it in the same year.”

As far as Bodacious’ influence on the Andrews breeding program, there is no question that it’s huge.

“Everything we get goes back to Bodacious.  He’s in everything – the dams, the sires.  Some people say he’s even in our horses,” joked Andrews.  “All goes back to Bo.”

Bodacious has proven himself as a productive sire, grandsire, and on and on.  In the 20 years since his death, this great bull’s genetics have been a major influence in the bucking bull industry.  His number of sons with probullstats is impressive.  Add that the number to all those bulls on the pro circuit that carry his genes in continued generations, and it becomes apparent just how much of an influence that the big yellow Charbray sale barn bull has made in the world of bucking bulls.

Bodacious’ last resting place is near the Andrews’ home in Texas.  In a tribute to keeping the spirit of the great bull alive, a professional grave digger was hired to create the memorial.  In his grave, Bodacious stands in a chute, facing out and ready to buck again.