Clayton Sellars in Las Vegas at the South Point Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding in March where he finished third..
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Clayton “Bo” Sellars missed the 2018 NFR by four slots, but in 2019 he buckled down and proved he was supposed to be at the back number ceremony on Wednesday night at the South Point. After an impressive season, he is the number four man on this year’s bull riding roster on opening night, where he will carry the State Flag of Florida.
Sellars, a 21-year-old bull rider from Florida now living in the cowboy capital of the World, Stephenville, Texas, earned $129,190.89 from competing in 115 rodeos. The 2018 RAM Rookie of the Year earned money in 46 or 40% of the events where he got on a bull and won five event titles.
He stays in shape, getting on and competing, including a recent stop at the Battle of the States, where he represented Texas on the winning team. The team went 5 for 5.
"The main muscle you use is in your head," Sellars said. "It's a 98 percent mental game — two percent talent. You've got to want it, and you've got to like it. It's not something you're going to do if you don't love it."
Clayton’s journey began when he joined the PRCA in 2017; his talent was evident as he won the RAM Rodeo Permit Standings the same year. He set his sights on Las Vegas in December but would fall short of the money earned needed to qualify for the NFR. This former baseball and football player finished 19th with $90,863 for the 2018 season winning nine events including the Comal County Xtreme Bulls in New Braunfels and the Deadwood (S.D.) Days of ’76 rodeo.
Bo's career began at seven years old when he decided to ride bulls like his Dad, brother, and cousin. He eventually would ride colts as well.
"It seems normal really," said Sellars, who hails from a family of rodeo competitors. "I don't know any different."
He qualified and competed at the National High School Rodeo finals for Leesburg High. Bo's father rode for Troy (Alabama). Still, the program was disbanded, and with zero school in Florida offering rodeo scholarships, he was recruited and signed with Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas, where he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in 2017-2018, finishing second overall in 2018 in the bull riding. He went on to graduate with a degree in Agriculture Science.