Clovis Crane broke his back as a college wrestler at Purdue, but even that couldn't prepare him fully for life on the professional rodeo circuit. Crane, 30, will be in St. Paul on Friday and Saturday for the World's Toughest Rodeo at Xcel Energy Center. In advance of that, he spoke with the Star Tribune's Michael Rand.
Q You've broken so many bones, it's hard to keep track. I'll get to the list in a minute, but is that common for someone in your line of work?
A If you're going to be in rodeo, you're going to have some bumps and lumps. Mainly, I've been kind of unlucky. But then, I've also gone and done as much as anybody, so I'm going to have a few battle scars.
Q Let's start with the leg. You broke your right fibula and tibia twice, right?
A Yeah, twice in the last year and a half. First time was at tryouts for "Toughest Cowboy" [on Spike TV]. I had a bull step on me when I was getting on my tryout bull. I rode with my leg in a cast in the circuit finals in Pennsylvania, and I won the all-around. I did it all with a broken leg. Then I came back and won the national all-around title, and had a lot of fun there. I was getting sound ... but then a month later, I ended up having a horse stumble and fall down and I rebroke it.
Q Ankles, feet, fingers, you've broken all of those. What about the broken jaw?
A I forgot all about that. I think that was in March of 2009. I was somewhere in Virginia, and a bull jerked me down and broke my jaw and knocked out a bunch of teeth. I looked like I had a horn growing out of my head. I was a darn mess. In April, I went to circuit finals, and my jaw was still broken. But you don't get paid to sit on the bench. To make money, you have to go. It's either toughen up or get broke.
Q Where did you develop that mentality?
