A man in a black cowboy hat and boots sits on a bench next to his house. He looks out over his own full-size soccer field, nodding to a past life that still plays an important part. Leme was an aspiring professional soccer player seven years ago. He was playing at the semi-pro level in his home country of Brazil, an accomplishment in itself, but his dreams were not materializing, and neither was the money. He decided to change on his 18th birthday. He was on the back of a bull. He is looking to become the first rider in history to win three straight world titles at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals in Fort Worth from Thursday to Sunday. He is the face of the PBR, and he is an electric performer and a dynamic athlete who grew up on soccer fields and fought in competitive karate tournaments rather than working on a ranch. He won 40% of the events he entered last year, setting or tying five major records, and drawing comparisons to elite competitors in other sports. "I think he is the same as the soccer player who is second in scoring history for the Brazilian national team," said fellow Brazilian bull rider Paolo Crimber. The lead analyst for the sport on CBS Sports Network compared Leme to an Olympian. He is willing to go through the grind to achieve what no one else has. You have great athletes everywhere, but it is rare that someone comes along that can become bigger than that sport. Jose is one of those guys. It took a leap of faith in coming to the United States, a colony of Brazilians in North Texas who helped him, and a spiritual connection with a bull named Woopaa who helped him to claim the sport's most prestigious record. In a country with more than 250 million head of cattle, Antonio rode bulls and raised livestock, a common practice in Ribas do Rio Prado, a town of about 25,000 in the southern part of Brazil. The family had to sell their herd after his father and mother divorced. Bull riding was one of the things he liked to watch when he was a child. He took some friends up on an offer to go to a bull ring after becoming dissatisfied with his soccer career. He said he decided to be in the sport because he rode the bull. The Brazilian bull riders are as good as the soccer players. Seven different Brazilians have won 12 world championship belt buckles since the start of the PBR. Ty Murray, one of the greatest all-around rodeo cowboys in history and one of the founding members of the PBR tour, said in 2013 that the Brazilian guys have a lot of it. Leme did not have to wait long for his star turn, unlike soccer, which he had played since he was 11. Leme became the first rider to win the country's triple crown after his first trip on a bull over a year and a half later. He landed in Las Vegas without knowing anyone in the country or even the airport signs, and was invited to the World Finals of the Professional Bull Riders. He won the event title and finished seventh in the world in the overall point rankings that year, despite going 6-for6 on rides without getting bucked off. The world champion, Jess Lockwood, had five wins in 45 events, but had earned more points over the course of a full season. Leme received a message across the sport that a new contender had arrived when he was named the PBR rookies of the year. Jose Vitor Leme arrived in Las Vegas and never looked back. Coming in at No. 8 in our top ten moments of 2017 is the Brazilian sensation who went a perfect 6-for-6 at the PBR World Finals to capture the event title and Rookie of the Year honors. pic.twitter.com/mLAv8FeQgG
There was no going back. Leme earned over $400,000 for 10 days of work. He told his family that he was staying in the United States and wouldn't return until he became the world champion.
Leme said he didn't know anything about America. I don't know a lot of people. I have a dream. My dream is to be a world champion. I am not going to do that in Brazil. I have to leave. I just did it.
It can be difficult to find a home base for an individual sport in a foreign country. That is one way the Brazilians stand out. They stick together.
When he first arrived in Las Vegas, Cormac met Lem and invited him to his home in Decatur, Texas, a town of about 7,000 people 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
He said that people from Brazil come to his house for a month or two.
A favorite of area real estate agents is Crimber, who grew up in Brazil. He and his wife Maria have lived in Decatur for 20 years and have two children, John and Helen. More than 30 Brazilian bull riders call this small town their home, thanks to their hospitable hosts. In 2008 he broke his neck twice in a four-month span and retired from bull riding. His thick Texas drawl, picked up while learning English from other rodeo cowboys on tour, makes him the perfect guide to the town, where he serves as a father figure, translator, community touchstone and the connector who helps the surrogate family members.
One thing that sets us apart is that we always stay together from the beginning. This is all we have.
From this new home base, Leme conquered the United States. Since arriving in Decatur, Leme has won the world title in 2020 and 2021, as well as finishing second in the world in the last two years.
The $5.27 million he has earned in his career on the PBR tour allowed him to buy his own ranch that has become the center of the bull riders social scene.
They cook churrasco, Brazilian-style steaks, every Monday when they play soccer on Leme's field. Leme believes that the games are a secret weapon in his training.
Leme said that soccer helps a lot not only physically but mentally. You have to make quick decisions. It is the same thing in bull riding. I feel better when I play because it helps my focus and my body as well.
They practice riding in Leme's bucking bull arena on Wednesdays, where they help coach, critique and motivate each other. It is a competitive advantage that other riders don't have. Leme, who has a 1-year-old son named Theodoro with his wife, also credits the camaraderie for support that allowed him to adapt to the abrupt life change.
Leme said that it was hard to leave their family and friends far away. If you don't start a new family, you will want to move back.
The extended family is making their own stars. John was named the Texas High School Rodeo Association's rookies of the year after winning the Texas state bull-riding title. He credits much of that to his community.
"My son loves Jose, if you ask him which one is his favorite, he will say him." They play video games, play soccer, ride bulls together. The guys take care of him. You want your kids to follow good people. I am really blessed to have that.
Leme said there was no rivalry between the riders.
Leme said the fight was between you and the bull.
Leme has had a starring role in her career because of one bull.
If a rider hangs on for eight seconds, he only earns a score of 0-100, which is the lowest score possible. The judges look for speed, power and drop in the front end, kick in the back end, direction changes and body rolls, and the bull always earns a score. Each judge gives 25 points for the bull and the rider on each ride. The total is divided in half after the scores are combined. Between 1997 and 2004, the highest ride score in the history of the PBR was 96.5 points, which was set and tied four times.
Leme drew a bull who had only been entered in five previous events, bucking off each rider in the 2020 World Finals. Leme went the distance and the two combined for a 95.75-point ride to win the world championship. Leme fell for a bull who was seen as a different type of athlete than his counterparts.
It will sound silly, but imagine a cat at 1,500 pounds and how springy it can be. He is 6 years old and weighs 1,500 pounds. They get bigger and slower as they get older. It has not slowed him down once.
Leme thought that they could make history together. He wanted to get that chance in the finals, where riders can draft bulls based on their spot in the point rankings, and since Leme was dominating the rankings, he could zero in on Woopaa. They have shared four rides.
He said he studies other legendary bulls that were known, like Red Rock, who was only ridden by Lane Frost, the legendary bull rider who died in the ring and was the subject of the 1994 movie.
Woopaa's showmanship includes an exceptional leaping ability and bucking power. He has three highest-scored bull scores.
The animal is an athletic one. Some bulls were harder for men to ride. They didn't have that wow factor to them.
Leme, with his muscular frame, seems to fit him just right.
Wilson said that it was impossible to pick a better rider and a better bull from all of bull-riding history to rise to the top at the same time. They have attracted a lot of people. People don't come to watch the PBR, they come to watch Jose and Woopaa battle it out again.
They are featured on the room key of the world finals official hotel in Fort Worth and every guest has a photo of them in their pocket.
They have shattered the all-time record for a marked ride. Twice.
The previous record of 17 years had been broken in July 2021. Leme scored the first 50-point rider score in PBR history on a 98.25-point ride in November.
That is as close as we have ever seen in the PBR.
These two cannot be stopped! In a storybook ending, World Champions Jose Vitor Leme and Woopaa break their own record to capture the highest scored ride in PBR history. Go behind the chutes to watch the explosive 98.75-point ride! pic.twitter.com/fT3KebpRVj
— PBR (@PBR) November 10, 2021
Leme said that they have something special. I make him look better during the ride. I can feel him talking to me before I jump on him.
Wilson said he sees the same thing.
He said that it was funny to watch. He said they were going to do this again. This time, let's do it a little bigger and better.
The partnership may have set a new record. If a bull bucks the rider off, there isn't much room for improvement in the ride score.
Wilson said that it is near impossible and that it will be a record that we will never see broken. There are bulls that fit certain riders, but not at this level. It is a once in a lifetime event. We may never see a bull and rider match up like Jose and Woopaa did.
Leme jokes about buying Woopaa a pallet of food for making him so much money, then looks out between the big metal gates in front of his house that read "world champion" and his front door, and points to a spot in his circle driveway.
Leme said he was going to put a statue of him and Woopaa out front.
If riders can stay healthy, they can compete as long as they can. The current No. 2 in the world is a Brazilian.
Leme has already accomplished so much at such a young age that it is safe to say that the greatest-ever status is within her reach. The only two bull riders who have won three world titles are Silvano Alves and Adriano Moraes. Leme would equal them with a win this week. He would be the only one to win all three in a row.
Leme, who missed about one-third of the season with various injuries, set or tied five all-time records, including setting the record for the most 90-point rides in a season, while also earning the first perfect 50-point ride score in PBR history.
What makes him a great bull rider?
He is a little bit his body type. He is a little bitty guy. He is very exciting to watch. He stays in the middle of the bulls, which makes them have great trips with him. They can have their best day with him.
Even if Leme draws a bull that is not one of the flashiest, he is still creative about selling it as a performer.
He makes big movements with his free arm. It will make it look like a bull is doing more than he is. Someone else can sit in the middle of him and not move a lot. You think that is a good bull. When Jose gets on, you're like, "WOW, that bull was really doing a lot!", but when you break it down, it really wasn't doing that much."
Leme has had a nagging groin/core muscle injury as well as a concussion in April which has been his toughest season. He has completed just 51.35% of his rides after a 69% mark in 2021, with two event wins and five 90-point rides. In the first round of the world finals last weekend, Leme went 3-for-3 on rides and maintained his hold on fifth place in the season rankings. With five rounds remaining, that is easily within reach. This year, Leme has just six total rounds, compared to eight last year.
He is in third place in the event rankings, just 6.25 points out of the lead, for the world finals. If Leme wins this weekend, he would tie Robson Palermo for the most world finals won by one rider with three and would become just the second to win the event in back-to-back seasons.
There is no chance that he is counting out Leme as he seeks history.
He is a guy that can win every time the gate opens, but he still sees room for improvement.
He can clean up some of the technical things because he is not there yet. He gets in a jam because of that. The fun part about it is that. That is the scariest part for other competitors. He is not the best he could be.
The rest of the season doesn't matter when the world championship is on the line. He is already ahead of everyone else, even if he can improve.
He rides better under pressure. A lot of guys don't. It is easy and natural. He is probably the greatest we have ever seen.
Leme marvels at where his hard work has taken him, from soccer to bull riding, from Brazil to Texas, to this spread in Decatur.
He said that he has a soccer field. I have everything.
With a third straight world title, he will become the greatest bull rider of all time.
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