By Ted Harbin /Photos Courtesy of Aaron Witt

He didn’t want to think it was possible, but Tim O’Connell couldn’t help but wonder if his career as a professional rodeo cowboy was over.

“It was frustrating to think my career was over, that I was never going to truly do this anymore and not be able to hang it up on my terms,” said O’Connell, a three-time world champion and 10-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier now living in Cascade, Iowa. “It’s super frustrating to be sidelined like that because of an injury.”

It was a torn left groin, suffered in January 2023 at Denver. He battled through the pain and the other problems that came with it, managing with a couple of stem-cell injections through the campaign, and qualified for his 10th straight NFR that December. He followed that with the first of four surgeries and tried to return to competition, only to return to the operating table again.

“The doctor said I was going to be able to come back in nine weeks, and it was two and a half years and three surgeries later,” said O’Connell, who is getting closer to his old self. “I was just being patient. Finding another avenue inside rodeo with the commentary was a blessing. It showed me there is life in rodeo after I decide to hang it up.

“That was probably one of the biggest blessings of all, not to mention the time I got to spend with my wife and kids that I never did before. Now, I can finally come back, not be in pain, and work toward getting back to the NFR and going back to world-title contention and everything that comes with it. It makes everything I did in the dark that no one got to see, all the (physical therapy) sessions and all the home sessions, all the weird therapies that I exhausted so that I could come back to the game.”

He’s not where he wants to be just yet. He’s getting there, but his muscle memory has to be reestablished with a much different left groin than when he was last riding for rodeo gold.

“You’ve got a three-time world champion right leg, and you’ve got a rookie left leg now, so I have to retrain my body how to do this,” he said. “It takes time, and I have high expectations for myself and everything that I do to win and be the very best version of me.”

The competitor’s patience is thin, but age has provided O’Connell with more restraint. He’s grown as a man and as a cowboy. Triumphs come from small victories, and those are happening.

“To be able to settle down, give myself grace, watch the videos and not hate myself for doing something wrong in eight seconds has helped,” O’Connell said. “I get to come out the next day and correct those mistakes and put my best forward, and I get really excited about being able to do that.”

O’Connell already has a world champion’s resume. He’s just adding to the legacy.