Chicken on a Chain

Background

In 2006, Robinson purchased Chicken on a Chain from bought from a family "out in the sticks" in South Carolina. There isn't much information about Chicken's parentage. The only thing available is his sire, who was #599 Scar. This where the story of how Chicken got his name comes in. It's said it is best to let Robinson's bull handler, Clint Haas, tell the story in his own words. "They went down 'ner and they knocked on the door and this little boy come to the door. They was like, 'We're here to pick up that bull.' That little boy says, 'Yes, dad told me you could have him, but said on one condition: he had to leave his name the same.' And Jeff's like, 'What his name?' And he says, 'Chicken on a Chain.' Jeff's like, 'Ok, how'd he get that name?' The boy says, 'That mean mother (expletive) got out and run through' – they had them, they was into cock fighting. You know how they got all them roosters staked out with a chain on the foot to keep them in place?

Apparently he'd run through the prized fighting chickens and got the best rooster's chain wrapped around his foot. That little boy said it took us a damn two weeks to catch the son of gun to get the chain off. He drug a dead chicken for two weeks. After that they called him Chicken on a Chain."

For the bulk of that first year, the bull was mean and difficult. So difficult that he considered selling him. However, instead he loaded the bull on his trailer and hauled him around from one Touring Pro Division event to another for the majority of the year. Fortunately, that was the beginning of a brilliant career for both of them. Chicken's impressive success which started in 2007 and lasted throughout until he retired in 2012 is almost solely responsible for carrying Jeff Robinson's Bulls and making it what it is today. A couple of years after purchasing Chicken, he had a couple dozen more bulls and could help fill BFTS or TPD pens at an event. In 2012, Robinson was hauling enough high caliber bulls to fill the short and champion rounds at every BFTS event. "You hear in sports where one guy carries a team," Robinson said. "Well, this bull carried me. He gave me the opportunity to be where I'm at. Without him I wouldn't be where I'm at, no doubt."

Chicken on a Chain was a huge bull, and in his stock contractor's own words, he was described as, "impossible to miss." Black with lighter brown spots, he had huge horns. With a big white stripe that went all the way down his face, he weighed in at more than 2,100 pounds, and was called a freak of nature by many of the top PBR riders of the world because of his massive size, and an athleticism that matched his beastly strength.

Career

Although Chicken on a Chain was purchased by stock contractor Jeff Robinson in 2006, comedian Larry the Cable Guy and Mike Tedesco also bought an interest in the bull that year. Chicken is just one of a few other bulls that Robinson co-owns with celebrities. Chicken is co-owned by Robinson, Tedesco Buckin' Bulls and Blue Collar Comedy Tour comedian Larry the Cable Guy. Although Robinson usually refers to himself as "hillbilly, he is actually quite brilliant when it comes to marketing his bulls. When people ask him about being partners with Larry the Cable guy, humble Robinson replied, "He just called me one day and said he was interested in the bulls and it just went from there." Chicken competed in the PBR from 2005-12.

By 2007 he hit his peak buck-off percentage and was voted the World Champion Bull that year. That same year, he bucked off a career best of 94.44 percent of the riders. He went on 18 outs, 12 of which were on the BFTS. He bucked off 17 of those 18, with only 1 rider getting a qualified ride. That year, Justin McBride made the whistle for 93 points. His average bull score for the whole year was 46.188.

But his most famous outing was when Renato Nunes rode him in St. Louis at the Championship Round for 95.75 points in 2008. This outing brought them the 11th spot on the list of highest scores in PBR history at that time. The second highest score is 96 points, and the highest score 96.5.

In 2009, Chicken was about a year past recovery from serious complications of kidney stones. His future career was being called into question. But in September 2009, he was getting ready to buck at the BFTS in Springfield, Missouri. He was one of the top ranked bulls scheduled to perform. Chicken is 8 years in 2009, and he is headed into a senior age for bucking bulls. In 2009, Robinson said the hearty, dark-brown, white=stripe faced bull, recently weighed in at more than 2,100 pounds. But he can still move plenty fast enough to buck cowboys into the dirt or into 90+ rides. As Robinson says, "So the moral to my story: Just because someone gets sick doesn't mean that they're done."

Brett Hoffman, who writes articles for PBR, said, "One huge factor that impresses me about Chicken on a Chain is he's big and can move. I really admire any larger bull who can be compared to an offensive lineman in size and a defensive back in speed. That's one reason that I became a huge fan of the late Bodacious in the mid 1990s." "You just don't see bulls that big that can move like that." Robinson said of Chicken on a Chain. "The bad thing about this is you just don't come across bulls like that much anymore. Cody Lambert says all of the time that Chicken on a Chain is a throwback (to earlier eras of bull riding). He's a throwback to the kind of bulls that they used to get on, bulls that were big and stout and mean." Brett Hoffman again, "The good news is that Chicken on a Chain is back and is going strong. He'll always stand out in my mind, and without a doubt, he's a big hit with many fans." "I had a guy come up to me one time and said Chicken on a Chain is my favorite bull," Robinson said. "I asked, 'Why?' The guy said something to the effect that he had the look, the attitude and the name and when it comes to bucking bulls, you just don't get that total package."

Chicken's last out came at the PBR World Finals at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chicken on a Chain went head to head with two-time World Champion bull riding legend Chris Shivers. That night and first ride for Shivers was Chicken's final ride. After Chris lasted 6.73 seconds on Chicken, he bucked off into the dirt and Chicken won his last ride before retiring. Shivers banged his fist on a rail in frustration. Shivers still had one more ride the next night and then he also was going to retire after an extremely long career. Two legends in one finals were saying goodbye.

As of 2015, Chicken on a Chain at the end of his career, he had a total of 130 outs. And 80 of those 130 outs were at the BFTS level. Chicken on a Chain finished his career with an average of 45 points per out. At that time, he as the only bull in the PBR who had more than 100 outs and that average score of 45 points (or higher). He was ranked fourth on the list of 90-point ride producers. He was the high-marked bull 41 times out of all of those 80 BFTS events he participated in. Of the 27 times he was ridden in his career, only 13 times did the rider win the round. As of December 2016, he was ranked 65th. Chicken on a Chain qualified for the PBR World Finals six out of the seven years he competed, earning an average bull score of 44.98.

Brendon Clark said, "I remember seeing him at some Touring Pro (Division events), early on, and he was really wild. For a bull his size, super-athletic is the best way to explain him doing it at this level. That's amazing. He's a bull that went for a long time without getting ridden, and then some of the best rides I've seen have been from that bull. Justin McBride and Renato Nunes are two that come to mind. He was an exceptional bull." Ben Jones said, "He was big and had two horns as big as baseball bats, so if you were going to get him rode you had to be a bull rider. You couldn't be half-hearted." J.B. Mauney said, ""When I first saw that bull he was probably the meanest bull I had ever seen. I hung up on him a few times and that got pretty scary. He's a big ol' bull and he's been great for a long time. There are not many bulls that can go that long, travel as many miles as he traveled and still be that good. He'll go down as being one of the best bulls ever. He had heart, plus he weighed about 2,000 pounds."

Chicken on a Chain was and is a fan favorite for many reasons. Despite his being one of the largest bulls in the PBR, if not the largest, he moves all 2,100 pounds of his weight as if he were an average size bull, and very quickly at that. He is a very athletic bull who has been very successful each year he has been in the PBR. Every event he has attended, he has been introduced to deafening standing ovations. Robinson believes Chicken is responsible for there being a Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls, that Chicken kept the contractor in business and enabled him to grow into the outfit it is today.

Honors