I was able to visit with some of his friends last week in San Antonio and he still doesn't recall the injury and is struggling some with his short-term memory, but everyone expects a full recovery. He'll probably be back riding bulls by the end of March or beginning of April (that's just my guess, the doctors have told him to wait longer, his friends expect him back sooner, so I'm splitting the difference.)

I do think, from my conversations, that he will be using a helmet when he returns.

On that note, I had an interesting conversation with J.W. Harris, the reigning world champion bull rider (who, by the way, is riding phenomenally). Last year he suffered five concussions within a 6-month stretch, some of them quite severe. I asked him about overcoming those injuries to win the world. Effectively, he said that he was too hard headed to give into wearing a helmet at first. But with so many injuries, it became obvious he had to in order to merely keep rodeoing, not to mention keep living.

He told me that the injuris affected him. (His riding shows, conversely, that wearing a helmet has not.) He'll get up in the morning, get ready and head out the door and stop, unable to remember if he brushed his teeth or not. I tell this story not to make fun of J.W., he's a good friend, but to demonstrate the effects of head injuries on a 22-year-old.

For the record, J.W. also said he would do it all again and more for a gold buckle. He said he'd sacrifice a leg for the honor, but for kids just beginning, they need to understand they can still compete at a high level as a bull rider without taking unnecessary risks. Helmets don't make bull riding safe, they just make it safer.

But, to anyone who has any influence over a young bull rider, please encourage them to use a helmet.