Comeback Cowboy

A Comeback Cowboy

Maverick Griffin holds onto the horse during the Howard County Fair Rodeo on June 28 in Fayette. Griffin did not complete a full ride during this rodeo.

Maverick takes a breather after his ride July 13 in Indian Grove. Since the accident, Maverick has struggled with short-term memory loss and talking for long periods of time.

Maverick Griffin takes the halter off his uncle’s horse, Whiskey, after practicing his riding position in preparation of upcoming rodeos. Griffin calls this period of time between June and July “Cowboy Christmas” because there are so many rodeos and opportunities for larger payouts.

Maverick practices his starting position on his uncle’s horse, Whiskey, as Billy Griffin, Maverick’s uncle, leads the horse around the pen.

Casey Myles watches as Griffin packs his equipment bag on July 14. Myles and Griffin met shortly after Griffin’s accident. “I’m just wanting to support him no matter what,” said Myles.

In 2016, Maverick won the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association Finals All Around Champion buckle. It was his first time at that competition and the first time Maverick competed against very experienced cowboys.

Necessary equipment for each rodeo is kept in a rolling suitcase that Maverick takes to each rodeo.

Before his ride July 13, Maverick plays on his phone, talks with fellow competitors and handlers. He has been within the rodeo circuit for 22 years and doesn’t feel the need to get into a certain mindset because it feels “like it’s a part of life” for him.

Maverick talks with Ty Birky about the bulls they are going to ride July 13 at Indian Grove Rodeo. According to Maverick, one of the greatest gifts the rodeo has given him are the friends he has made over the years. He considers many of his friends in the rodeo circuit part of his family.

Maverick considers the bucking bull cross he wears around his neck his lucky charm. He bought it with winnings he got at a rodeo a few years ago.

Griffin puts tape on his arm in preparation for his first ride of the night - the bull. Shortly after he rode the bull, he rode a bronc.

Chase Gabriel and James Earl Carter help get the ropes into the proper place while Maverick gets into position on the bull July 13.

Maverick completes a full eight second ride July 13 in Indian Grove. He narrowly lost first place to another competitor because he did not spur the horse enough during his ride.

“There’s just some things that you have the deepest passion for you can’t let go, no matter how bad it’s been.”

For bareback and bull rider Maverick Griffin, it’s been pretty bad. He suffered a traumatic brain injury last year that could have ended his career in rodeo.

That career began when he was a child, or maybe earlier if you consider that at two days old, he was in the crowd when his father, Bret Griffin, competed in bull riding.

At 16, Maverick started riding bulls. At 18, he started riding bareback, following a family tradition in rodeo competition. His father was a world championship bull rider and his uncle, Billy Griffin, was a world championship bareback rider.

“(Rodeo) just felt like normal everyday things,” said Griffin, who works as an electrician when he’s not riding.

Bull riding is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Roughly 20 in 100,000 bull riders suffer a severe injury while riding, according to research by Dale Butterwick, a sports epidemiologist with the University of Calgary.

On May 27, 2018, Griffin’s turn came up.

He had just completed a full ride in the bareback horse category of a rodeo in Milan, Missouri, MO, and was getting off the horse with the help of the pickup men. He had done it dozens of times, but this time the horse ran into a corner and dropped him. As Griffin looked up to see where the horse was, it kicked him in the mouth.

“They said I was just completely out,” he said. “I mean like, I’d mutter words here and there. But I was out of it.”

Griffin was taken to a hospital in Kirksville, which was not equipped to handle the severity of his injury. So he was airlifted to University Hospital in Columbia. He doesn’t remember the first three days after the accident and was in the hospital for seven days.

“They said I had minor brain bleeding when I first got in there, but somehow, out of some miracle, it stopped,” he said. “They said it looked like it never been there.”

He knows he was lucky. In most cases like his, survivors don’t wake up for months.

“For the next month or two, it was hard,” he recalled. “Really, really hard.”

He was out of work for a month.

It was the lowest point of his life. But after six months of recovery, he returned to the ring. And more than a year later, Griffin is ranked No. 4 overall within the United Rodeo Association and is the No. 1 bareback rider and No. 10 bull rider within the Missouri Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Casey Myles, his girlfriend, knows there’s a chance he could be injured again but accepts that it’s just part of the sport.

“I admire his passion and his love for it,” she said. “And I’m just wanting to support him no matter what.”

He continues to struggle with his short-term memory and speaking for long periods at a time, but he has worked through it and continues to improve.

“Can’t let fear overcome you,” he said.

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