Last time we checked in on Jared Allen, he had been red stag hunting, skydiving, zip-lining, bear hunting, and running with the bulls.
Well apparently No. 69 owns three bulls in the Professional Bull Riders series too. Shocker.
We know it’s Jared Allen and nothing should surprise us at this point, but why? Why does he own bulls, of all animals? Couldn’t he have just stuck to racehorses like Drew Brees and Rick Pitino? Those seem exciting enough. And, excuse my ignorance, but what does bull riding entail, exactly?
Well for the first question of why, Allen grew up on a ranch in California, so bull riding and rodeos were as natural to his family as baseball games and beach picnics were to mine. He said his dad would put him and his brother on cows for rides when they were five years old.
“My dad and grandpa thought it was really funny to put us on,” Allen said. “The cows always won.”
As for Professional Bull Riding, it’s been an official organization since 1992. The PBR’s premier tour, the Built Ford Tough Series, includes 31 events across the country every year, and each features the top 30 riders in the world at the time.
Riders attempt to stay on a bucking bull for eight seconds, and rides are judged based on both the rider’s and the bull’s performance, with two judges scoring the rider and two scoring the bull. At the end of each event, the top 15 riders compete in the short round, or “short go,” and the rider with the highest point total from the entire event is crowned champion.
This year, Allen and PBR are embarking on a partnership to benefit his Homes for Wounded Warriors (H4WW) charity. According to Allen’s website, H4WW is a non-profit organization created for the sole purpose of raising money to build or modify the homes of America’s injured Military Veterans so that they are handicap accessible and comfortable. The charity was formed in October 2009 after Allen returned home from his USO trip to US Military Bases in the Middle East as a way to say thank you for the commitment, dedication, and sacrifices that our soldiers make every day to protect our freedom.
To date, Allen’s three bulls – H4WW Hot Iron, H4WW HY Test and H4WW Thumbs Up, have raised more than $100,000 from semen straw auctions, grassroots bull riding events and event winnings.
“Just having bulls bucking in the PBR with our foundation name attached to them is a great opportunity,” Allen said. “We’ve developed some great traction and are continuing to grow, always looking for ways we can expand.”
The partnership, which has evolved into a three-prong initiative, is certainly a step in the right direction.
The PBR/Jared Allen project officially kicks off when the PBR Built Ford Tough Series resumes its season with the Express Employment Professionals Classic, Aug. 16-17, at Bok Center in Tulsa, Okla. For this event and all of the others in the series, the two have developed a text-to-win program, which will drive donations for H4WW. When Hot Iron, HY Test and Thumbs Up enter the arena, event attendees will be encouraged to text “WARRIOR” to “80088,” along with their donations.
Allen and the PBR will also promote and produce several high-profile bull riding events outside of the Built Ford Tough Series, with all the proceeds going to the H4WW’s custom home projects.
Lastly, the PBR will help market merchandise like T-shirts, hats and plush bulls with the H4WW logo, which will launch this fall in conjunction with the resumption of the series.
“PBR and H4WW have a natural tie-in; they stand for some of the same principles, God and country,” Allen said. “The fact that I can merge my interests to the benefit of both is great.”
The foundation has a goal of building three to five houses this year, but Allen hopes this new partnership will increase the number to five to 10 next year.
“There’s 10 seconds right there where the announcer’s talking about the foundation,” Allen said. “There’s 10 seconds where it’s on someone’s mind. Just putting it on the TV is going to be huge for us.”
With the increased exposure, Allen not only hopes to raise money for his foundation, but also the profile of a niche sport with ties to his upbringing. Even if his popularity and personality can’t accomplish the latter though, he’ll be ecstatic every time a he moves a veteran into a new home, knowing H4WW and The PBR made it possible.
“When you give someone a key to their home that is fit specifically for them, the joy you see in that person, it’s life changing,” Allen said. “It’s a small way we can say thank you.”
On the football front, Allen will be starting his sixth season with the Minnesota Vikings. When asked Monday morning on NFL Network’s “NFL AM” if he will be ready for training camp after shoulder surgery this offseason, Allen answered, “Unfortunately, yes.”
“I was hoping to get a couple weeks of training camp off, but the training staff is pretty good here. So I’m ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” Allen said.
For more on Jared Allen read our story: From Pocatello to Pink Cadillac
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