TUCSON, Ariz. — The events at the 94th Annual Fiesta De Los Vaqueros can be extremely dangerous, but all the competitors from Bareback riding to bull riders count on the rodeo clowns to keep them safe.
What makes these dare devils risk their own lives for others? KGUN9's Cody Schiever spoke to John Harrison, a Tucson rodeo clown who has been entertaining crowds and keeping bull riders safe for the past two decades.
“I wouldn't recommend anybody getting into this,” said Harrison. “Don't let the make-up fool you.”
Harrison says his colorful rodeo persona aren’t just for the kicks, but, rather, avoiding them.
"The baggy clothes [outfit], that’s for a reason,” said Harrison. “It will be a distraction. Any kind of movement would get the bulls eye…because everybody thinks bulls see red, but the truth is, they don’t they see movement. [Distraction] is a life saving gesture from more than 15 hundred pounds stomping on the cowboy’s bodies.”
While Harrison has had some scratches and bruises along the way, he says he was born to be in the rodeo, and would do anything he could to save others.
"It’s man vs beast out there. If I’m out there I’ll distract the bull, I’ll hit the barrel,” said Harrison. “I duck down, I touch the side. I allow the bull to hit me instead of the guy and give them the opportunity to ride tomorrow."
You can catch Harrison at the Rodeo Fairgrounds all weekend, with the competition wrapping up on Sunday.
-Cody Schiever, reporting for KGUN9.
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