Paulo Crimber Rides into Florida Feeling the Fruits of Freedom
To coach a bull riding team called “Freedom,” Paulo Crimber seems shipped in from Central Casting.
As the marketers would say, he’s “on brand.”
Of course, Crimber had the talent and try to win at the biggest bull riding events in Brazil then qualify 10 times for PBR World Finals.
And if there’s one thing bull riders respect, if there’s one guy they’ll listen to, it’s a cowboy who has plowed through the familiar thick wall of doubt and pain to stay elite, riding the rankest beasts for ten years, stopping only when the doctor said so.
Equal to that, Crimber epitomizes the promise and fruits of freedom so often referenced in his adopted country.
“I grew up loving the cowboys and the whole Western culture in America,” Crimber said in a Portuguese accent turned singsong Texas-twang. “I’ve always felt like an American at heart. It’s really the land of opportunity. I love this country; it’s the place I’ve always wanted to live.”
Today it became official. Crimber is the new head coach of the Florida Freedom, South Florida’s bull riding team scheduled to host their first homestand on August 2-4 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
“Paulo is a proven winner – a 10-time World Finals qualifier; a Brazilian sports legend; a teacher; a coach; a mentor; a family man. For someone living the real-life American dream, there’s no better place than the Florida Freedom,” said team owner Heath Freeman.
South Florida has America’s largest concentration of Brazilians – fertile ground for building a rabid fan base filling the home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
Sports fans like to pull for athletes they can identify with. Currently, 12 of the PBR’s top 25 riders are Brazilian.
One rider of Brazilian descent everyone has had an eye on since he was a cheerful 13-year-old winning on mini bulls happens to be named Crimber.
Paulo’s son John, 18, whipped silly the competition at the lower levels to make it to the elite tour, and wouldn’t it be a sportswriter’s dream if Freeman could find a way to secure the No. 1 pick at the 2024 New Rider Draft leading into the league’s third season.
Long before John was born, Paulo Crimber grew up in Olimpia, SP, five hours outside Sao Paulo, surrounded by horses and cattle, a Western usually on the television. He was awestruck by the strong, honorable cowboys and the land they roamed.
Cowboys were fascinating; more so those who got on bucking bulls. At 7, Paulo attended a rodeo, and his life’s path would be set.
“I saw a bull rider, and I was just dreaming and imagining myself doing that,” he said.
When milking cows, he would ride calves in the pasture. At 14, he competed in an amateur rodeo. By 16, he was winning cash.
At 18, he won the first round of the storied Barretos rodeo, qualifying for an even bigger stage in another continent – PBR World Finals. Crimber was – and still is – the youngest Brazilian ever to appear at the sport’s marquee event.
New fans know Crimber as the nattily dressed ubiquitous translator for Brazilian riders and co-coach of the Arizona Ridge Riders during the team’s first two seasons in PBR Camping World Team Series.
They may not realize he rode more than half of his bulls, going 283-for-554 (51%) and winning five events, qualifying for the World Finals nine more times.
For three years following his first World Finals, Crimber split time between the U.S. and Brazil. In 2001, while injured and recovering in Brazil, he met Maria. She truly got Paulo, understanding the hard-to-fathom mindset of a bull rider.
Maria left everything in Brazil to come to the U.S. for Paulo to live his dream. The couple settled near Fort Worth. Along with John, they also have a daughter, Helena.
In 2004, with a busted-up hand, Crimber finished 3rd at the PBR World Finals. He then won the NFR in Las Vegas and was able to buy a home in Decatur, Texas, setting down roots that would impact the sport in ways no one would have ever imagined.
Crimber became a magnet to Brazilian riders and an avuncular figure, helping dozens of young men aspiring for bull riding stardom who came through Texas. They stay in his house, rent-free. They get help with their travel and entry fees. Crimber shuttles them to surgery and rehab. He translates and teaches them English.
The local Chamber of Commerce should erect a statue of Crimber. Nearly 50 Brazilian bull riders now live in the Decatur area. Crimber estimates approximately 40 have stayed at his house at one time or another.
Today, Decatur bustles with joyful cookouts, soccer matches, and practice bull ridings at the ranches of superstars like Silvano Alves, Jose Vitor Leme and Kaique Pacheco – six gold buckles among them.
“These guys appreciate being here to make a better life for their families,” Crimber said. “We are a family here when we are so far away from our families in Brazil.”
When Amadeu Campos was killed in a freak bull riding accident in Fresno in the summer of 2021, Crimber made all arrangements for his body to be transferred. He selected the coffin for the 22-year-old and delivered his burial clothes.
In moments of tragedy or triumph, Maria does for the wives what Paulo has been doing for the cowboys, her service, love, and friendship coming from her heart just the same.
“We are a community. We help each other out,” Crimber said. “We feel good about it, glad to have the guys here. Everyone is humble. They come from simple families trying to have a better life. PBR gives us the chance to dream big and be part of something special…the chance to dream for a better life in a great country.”
Crimber’s full-time bull riding career ended prematurely at 28, after breaking his C1 twice in one season.
He had been World No. 1 early in 2008 and would sit for five months after the first time he landed on his head.
Returning to action in Orlando, his first out was disastrous. He ended up underneath a bull called Rough Neck, again breaking his C1 along with his collarbone and sternum.
Doctors took bone off his hip to fuse the C1 and C2 vertebrae. He slept in a recliner for 6 months.
“My career ended short,” he reflected. “I am happy with everything. You always want to do what you love, but God found another path. It took me a while to see that.”
He transitioned into cowboy daywork to feed the family. PBR gave him a shot at judging. He progressed fast, judging World Finals in 2010.
The next season, he decided to ride once again – not to prove anything to himself or doctors pointing out that riding bulls with a fused spine isn’t exactly the world’s best idea. It was for his son John.
“He’s so passionate about bull riding,” Crimber said. “I wanted him to see me ride.”
John Crimber took it all in, especially his father’s simple advice: “Work hard, stay out of trouble, get rewarded.”
He is now a phenom – a young Sydney Crosby of sorts for the sport of bull riding.
He turned 18 on August 11. The next day, John had his PBR card. He won 9 of 14 events, hurtling to the top tour. He won a round at the Unleash The Beast, got banged up, and is now back at No. 32 in the world.
Stranger things have happened, and topping the list would be John Crimber not going first in the 2024 PBR Teams rider draft.
South Florida has a hockey team, and fans stream into the building decked out in their Panthers gear. Why not bull riding? Why not the Florida Freedom? For goodness sake, last Saturday from Chicago, PBR on CBS averaged 1.16 million viewers, outdrawing the Rangers vs. Capitals NHL game on ABC (954,000).
Should the stars align, the sport’s top rising star would be reunited with his father in Florida, the sunny, hot weather symbolic of a sizzling sport with seemingly limitless growth.
“The Teams idea is genius – the best one I’ve ever heard in this sport,” Crimber said. “It’s going to take PBR far. It’s the future. I’m so glad to be coaching the Florida Freedom with my son having this as a professional, too.”
The question is if father and son will share it together under a Freedom logo oh-so appropriate for the blessed life of Paulo Crimber.
