February 8, 2025

Wellness Nest

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The “Rodeo Doctor” Who Has Served Three Decades at the Professional Level

The “Rodeo Doctor” Who Has Served Three Decades at the Professional Level

One of the things we often forget in rodeo (until faced with the harsh reality that we are not invincible) is how easily athletes can be injured. When you live this lifestyle, you often take for granted how dangerous it can be. The behind-the-scenes savior of rodeo is the Justin Sports Medicine Team. When many of us hear those words, one doctor in particular comes to mind.

Tandy Freeman, MD, is the Medical Director for the Justin Sports Medicine Team and in December 2024, he worked his 30th National Finals Rodeo. Freeman is an orthopedic surgeon based in Dallas, Texas and has spent his career putting the best cowboys and cowgirls in business back together. He works on rodeo athletes from all stages, high school to professional.

Not only is Freeman there for them in the operating room, but he is on the ground at the biggest Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association rodeos in the country each year. We often see Freeman on The Cowboy Channel, giving us injury updates and reports throughout events like the NFR, where he is hands-on with the most elite athletes in the world. Freeman also spends a significant amount of time at Professional Bull Riders (PBR) events, where he is also the Medical Director.

Although Freeman did not grow up in rodeo, he was a natural fit. After earning his degrees at Baylor University and UT Southwestern Medical Center, Freeman met J. Pat Evans, MD, one of the founding members of the Justin Sports Medicine Team. When Evans retired, Freeman took over the care of rodeo’s finest.

Dr. Tandy Freeman and the Justin Sports Medicine crew

Dr. Tandy Freeman and the Justin Sports Medicine crew / Fernando Sam-Sin

Unlike other professional sports, rodeo athletes are not under multi-million dollar contracts and endorsements. Many sponsorships come in the form of product, not money. If contestants are not competing (and winning), they are not earning a pay check. Rodeo is “pay to play,” so just because a contestant is entered at a sold-out rodeo, they are not guaranteed any money.

Freeman keeps these athletes functioning, to the best of he and his team’s abilities, from major surgery to athletic taping. The educational piece is important in helping athletes understand re-injury and recovery, so being able to work with top-level medical experts helps them get back in the saddle. At this point, I would doubt there is much he has not seen (and then seen those athletes continue to compete, regardless).

In 2008, Freeman was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and in 2013, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 2016, he was given the Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award by the PBR Hall of Fame. Most recently, it was announced that Freeman is a 2025 Inductee into The Bull Riding Hall of Fame. All very well-deserved and certainly not the last of the accolades he will earn. We tip our hats to the incredible doctor who takes care of our rodeo family.

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