After more than 20 years as a full-time PBR employee, Flint Rasmussen has officially stepped away from the organization, turning his attention back toward public speaking, hosting, emceeing and select arena appearances.
After more than two decades with Professional Bull Riders, Flint Rasmussen is closing one chapter of his career and beginning another.
Rasmussen announced that his final day as a full-time PBR employee was Friday, ending a relationship that continued well beyond his highly publicized departure from full-time arena entertainment more than two years ago.
For Rasmussen, there is an important distinction: he wasn't actually retired.
For more than 20 years, Rasmussen was a full-time PBR employee, including throughout the years when fans knew him best as the entertainer commanding the arena between bull rides. When he stepped away from that role, he didn't leave the organization. Instead, he transitioned into a corporate position with PBR and relocated to Fort Worth, Texas, where the company's corporate office is based.
For the past two and a half years, Rasmussen said he went to work each day and gained an entirely different perspective on the organization he had spent decades representing in arenas across the country.
He credited PBR CEO Sean Gleason with giving him the opportunity to learn the business side of the company and better understand what happens behind the scenes.
Now, Rasmussen has decided it is time for another change.
"This past Friday was my last day as an employee of the PBR," Rasmussen announced, quickly making it clear there was no controversy behind his departure.
"Leaving on good terms," he said. "Everybody's going to say, 'Oh, what really happened?' ... Nothing."
Rasmussen said he expects he could still appear at PBR events in the future, but he will no longer be employed by the organization.
Instead, one of rodeo and bull riding's most recognizable personalities is returning his attention to the work he says fulfills him most.
"It was time for me at this age and this stage of my life to really get back to what fulfills me, what I'm passionate about, and, frankly, what I'm good at," Rasmussen said.
That includes expanding his public-speaking work, hosting and emceeing events, interviewing, and pursuing opportunities outside the arena. Rasmussen has already begun appearing in some familiar places and even hinted that fans could see him step back inside the arena from time to time.
The possibility comes after Rasmussen spent several years giving both his mind and body a break from the demanding schedule that came with his former arena role. He said he now feels better physically than he did four years ago after changing his fitness routine and getting back into shape.
That doesn't necessarily mean a return to the same grueling schedule that once made him a fixture at PBR events. Instead, Rasmussen appears ready to pick opportunities that allow him to use the skills that made him one of Western sports' most recognizable entertainers.
He also plans to continue developing projects outside the barrel, including his Tuesday Night Live show and other appearances.
For longtime fans, Rasmussen's announcement isn't another retirement. If anything, it is the opposite.
After spending the last two and a half years largely behind the scenes, the cowboy who made a career entertaining crowds is preparing to spend more time in front of them again.
"Hope to see you down the road," Rasmussen said. "You just never know when I might pop up."
Rasmussen may officially have left the PBR, but he made one thing clear: Flint isn't disappearing from Western sports anytime soon.
