RodeoHouston Contestant Tyson Durfey On the Shutdown

Tie-down roper Tyson Durfey, a former RodeoHouston champion and recent winner of Super Series I, weighs in on the rodeo’s cancellation and the Coronavirus scare, acknowledging it’s a huge disappointment for not only the athletes but also the committees, fans, and host communities.

On not traveling while waiting to see how things play out, Durfey says, “It’s kind of a weird thing to do because cowboys are used to just toughening up, yah know, and this isn’t something you can do that with.”

“I hope we are ready to go by Austin, and I hope it doesn’t affect too many rodeos. … You just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Durfey says. “So I think it’s important that people stay super smart about where they’re going, what they’re doing, you know, the people that they’re around — certain stuff like that — until we get a handle on it.”