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An Interview with

TYSON DURFEY

Rodeo Life: Why is it important to you to wear pink to raise awareness for
Breast Cancer Testing and Research? What sparked this passion?

Tyson Durfey: I’ve been doing this for so long now it’s the people that come up to
me and tell me their story and tell me that I gave them inspiration. Originally,
I had done it for my stepmother. At the time, she was going through some
cancer scares. Right before I was heading to the Canadian Finals, they came
back from the doctors and she’s pretty bummed out and she said, “I’ve got two
grapefruit-sized tumors surrounding my ovaries.” I was racking my brain trying to
think of ways to lift her spirits to just make her feel better. I went to her and said,
“what if I wore pink all ten rounds of the NFR and all six rounds at the Canadian
Finals and it’ll just be between me and you – kind of like my private dedication
to lift your spirits.” It was really easy for me back then because I didn’t have any
sponsors, I could literally change a shirt and I was ready to go at the finals. That’s
what started it – I did it for her. I pledged to her that I would donate ten percent
of the money that I won to Susan G. Komen.

After the NFR, I wasn’t going to wear the pink shirt anymore. But during the
first two rodeos in the new season, I had a lot of people come up to me
wondering why I wasn’t wearing it; they expressed to me how it lifted their
spirits and helped them. It left me feeling that there’s something about this.
Cultivating RL: Between competing, your businesses and your two daughters, how do you
If I can help people with this, maybe it’s what I am meant to do – and that was
eleven years ago.

find a healthy balance? What is your secret to a strong, lasting marriage? What
advice do you have for someone juggling professional and family commitments?

Greatness Anything that doesn’t serve what you want for your future maybe has to go
TD: There are four things: Create habits that serve you, have rituals, keep a
schedule and do everything out of love.

whether it’s drinking or playing extra golf. I’m not saying that you can’t have fun
too, but the fun things that I do include my family. Everything that we do brings
us closer together. A lot of people work away from home and I am very blessed ª

PRCA ProRodeo photo by James Phifer Rodeo LIFE 31