Happy trails White to retire following Built Ford Tough Invitational

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 6, 2010) - Looking more like he was on vacation than at the Built Ford Tough Invitational, Mike White was all smiles Friday afternoon.
 
“I’m ready,” he said, leaning back in a chair as he watched his 6-year-old son Logan splash around in an indoor pool.
 
Hours before officially announcing his retirement, White admitted, “My heart’s just not into riding bulls anymore. I think when you get up in the morning and you’re not craving bulls, it’s time to quit.
 
“I don’t really care, on the weekends, to drive to the airport and fly to the bull ridings anymore, so it’s time to quit before I get hurt.”
 
Later that night, as his best friend Chris Shivers pulled his rope and helped him get ready to ride, another of his good friends, announcer Clint Adkins, delivered the news: At the conclusion of the event, White will retire from the sport of professional bull riding.
 
White then rode Mighty Mister Hou for 84.5 points.
 
Coming into the weekend, White is ranked 45th in the world standings, 669 points out of the Top 30, and facing the prospect of being cut from the Built Ford Tough Series. But the 33-year-old said his retirement is less about position and more about being worn out.
 
Last week in St. Louis, after riding Moonshine for 84.75 points in the third round, he sat alone in the locker room and thought about his future.
 
“I’ve been thinking about this retirement for several weeks now,” White recalled, “and after last weekend I was talking to my wife and I said, ‘I’m done.’ She said, ‘You’re done what?’ It was kind of a shock to her too, because I’ve never shared this discussion with her.
 
“Last weekend, at the event, I was there but I wasn’t there. My heart wasn’t there, and I just kind of sat down in the locker room myself and thought about it. Finally, I said, ‘I don’t need to be here anymore.’”
 
White retires as one of the greats.
 
In 1999, the same year he won a PRCA world title, he transitioned to the PBR and was named Rookie of the Year. A fan-favorite his entire career, White has earned more than $1.4 million riding in the PBR, and in 223 BFTS events has recorded 66 Top 10 finishes, 43 Top 5s,  and 12 event titles.
 
His two best seasons in the PBR came in 2003 and 2004, when he finished fourth and third in the world.
 
In 2003, he claimed four event wins, including a stretch of three in four events.  A year later, he recorded 10 Top 5 finishes.
 
Prior to qualifying for nine PBR World Finals and three NFR appearances, White was an accomplished amateur bull rider. In 1995, he won the Louisiana high school state championship en route to competing in the National High School Finals as a senior. A year later, he qualified for the National College Finals before turning pro in 1997.
 
“I’ve never showed it,” said White, “but I’ve always been scared to where I can’t come home and play with my kid. To know that I might come home one weekend and I might be in a wheelchair and not be able to play with my kid—it really hurts me. Your life changes when you have a kid.”
 
White later added, “This is all I’ve ever done. It’s time to figure out what else to do with my life. It’s going to be quite a change, because this is where I’m at every weekend.”
 
Although he won’t be riding bulls save for two previous commitments, the Louisiana native is likely to be part of PBR-sanctioned events in various capacities.
 
Next week, he’ll help with publicity leading up to the event in Glendale, Ariz. He’s spoken with PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert about serving as a safety rider, and has discussed other ways to stay involved with COO Sean Gleason.
 
The most likely scenario is that White, who makes his home on a ranch outside of DeKalb, Texas, will spend the majority of his time working with Futurity and Classic bulls.
 
“I want to stay involved in the PBR,” said White, who added that he would like to “still come to the events and be around all the people that I’ve been around for 14 years.”
 
 White is also getting set to coach his son’s t-ball team for the second year in a row.
 
“It’s a lot of what my life is going to be like,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons I’m getting ready to retire.”
 
NEWS and NOTES
 
All for one, one for all: It’s well known that White and Chris Shivers are best friends and have been for some time. But prior to the announcement, White said, “Chris Shivers doesn’t know. It’s going to be quite a shock to him, too.”
 
Shivers didn’t know about White’s decision until he was standing on the back of the chutes pulling White’s rope.
 
Afterward, he walked into the locker room and said, “You’re supposed to tell me things like that.”

White laughed. “OK. By the way, I won’t be riding next week.”
 
True to his word: White has committed to appearing in two more lower-level events.
 
In May, he’ll take part in a three-head bull riding in DeKalb, Texas, with Shivers and Guilherme Marchi. Each will ride three bulls, with highest aggregate score winning the challenge. Then, on June 25 and 26, he’ll compete in his own Touring Pro event in his hometown of Lake Charles, La.
 
Parting thought: In wrapping up his interview, White offered a final observation: “It’s been a great career, and the PBR has been great to all the bull riders. None of the bull riders ever thought the PBR would make it as far as it has, and we could ride for the prize money we have. Hats off to those guys for the hard work they’ve done.”
 
—by Keith Ryan Cartwright

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