Flint Rasmussen to make final Professional Bull Riders appearance in Billings

Children dress like him, wearing his trademark jersey, their faces painted in the matching red-and-white makeup.

Fans drive hundreds of miles, specifically to witness his rollicking rapid-fire wit and boundless kinetic energy.

“It’s humbling, that’s the only word for that,” said Flint Rasmussen.

He is the face of a multi-million-dollar business and the go-to person for media interviews in a sport filled with larger-than-life characters.

But none are bigger.

There have been rodeo entertainers before him, but none like him.

Rasmussen changed the game.

The world’s most famous western sports entertainer will be making his final appearance in Billings for the Professional Bull Riders Unleash The Beast Tour.

The Wrangler Invitational is April 14-16 at First Interstate Arena. Dakota Louis of Browning won the event last year.

“Billings is a little bit overwhelming,” Rasmussen admitted of performing in his new hometown. “I feel a lot of pressure here. You go down a row, ‘I know that person.’ You go down another row, ‘I know that person.’ But it's fun knowing you have friends in the stands."

Rasmussen, 55, announced this would be his last PBR season dancing in the dirt. He will transition into a television role when the PBR begins its team competition.

“No. 1, I’ve beaten my legs to death over the years,” explains the Choteau native who has entertained audiences across five decades. “It’s more challenging to get emotionally prepared to do this job.”

Rasmussen has been the PBR’s exclusive entertainer since 2006. While those watching at home sit through commercial breaks, Rasmussen keeps the attending crowd engaged.

“I bring levity,” he said. “This is an intense sport. It can be disturbing when somebody gets injured. It’s a show, almost like a concert tour. We’re unique. Nothing compares to bull riding.

“I try to bring joy to the sport. I want people to leave a little better than when they came in.”

'Raised on an announcer's stand'

The father of daughters Shelby and Paige has been making people smile for more than half a century. He is the youngest of Stan and Tootie’s four children: Will, Pete, Linda and Flint.

Stan was a long-time announcer and past president for the Northern Rodeo Association and Tootie served as a timer. Will Rasmussen has established himself as one of the best announcers in the business.

“My mom said I was raised on an announcer’s stand,” said the youngest son.

Growing up in Choteau (class of 1986), Rasmussen participated in sports, music and drama.

“I look back and I always loved performing,” he said. “It’s a real addiction.”

And he was already preparing for his future in his younger days.

“I played music loud with a tennis racket in my hand and in front of a mirror,” he said. “I hate to admit it, I would be sitting in study hall signing my name. I thought someday, somebody is going to want my autograph and better learn to get it done.”

The original plan entering Montana Western was to become a teacher and a coach. He did that after graduation but a knock on a motorhome door in Lewistown, Montana, added another option.

Rasmussen and his brother Pete had arrived in town. Rasmussen was resting from having a little fun the night before. Bullfighter Loyd Ketchum banged on the door.

“We need you,” Ketchum told Rasmussen. He needed the teenager for the rodeo skit.

“Loyd helped me put my make up on,” Rasmussen said. “It was a two-man act. We blew up an outhouse.

“It was awesome.”

Ketchum, of Miles City, would go on to become a world champion bullfighter.

“Loyd doesn’t get enough mention for my career,” continued Rasmussen. “He got me my PRCA gigs and how to get my PRCA card.”

'Let's jump'

Following the “Ah-ha” moment in Lewistown, Rasmussen worked a rodeo in Superior with his brother for free. He followed it by working a UM Western rodeo in the fall and was hired by Don Jacobs of Jacobs Livestock and Rodeo in Great Falls, to work his Northern Association Rodeos the next year.

“Hmm, this beats a real summer job,” realized Rasmussen.

He worked NRA rodeos for five years. “In the process, I was polishing my craft, learning my acts with props and music,” said Rasmussen. “My own style started to come through.”

His first PRCA rodeo was Red Lodge in 1994. “They had someone else just in case it didn’t work out,” he said with a smile. He would work Belt, Augusta and Red Lodge that year.

Rasmussen by then was teaching at Havre High School. Ketchum kept nudging him into the direction of rodeo.

“Loyd said, ‘Guys are making triple what you’re making teaching.’ He hooked me up,” said Rasmussen.

He was single, lived in an apartment and had no debt. “If I’m going to do this, I have to do it now,” he said. “Let’s jump.”

Not everybody supported the move.

“The older teachers told me I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Rasmussen said, repressing a smirk knowing how this story turned out. “There were some pretty lean times. I was a substitute teacher and worked at Karl Tyler Chevrolet. I had to pay bills.”

Rodeo producer Jerome Robinson hired Rasmussen for some big winter rodeos and contractor Mike Cervi had him work San Angelo, Texas.

“It was those little breaks I needed,” said Rasmussen,

He was the PRCA Clown of the Year eight years in a row and selected Coors Man in the Can seven times. Rasmussen is in the hall of fames for the rodeos in Pendleton, Oregon; St. Paul, Oregon; and Ellensburg, Washington.

Rasmussen was working both PRCA and PBR events when then PBR CEO Randy Bernard made an offer.

“I said no,” he said. “I had a lot of rodeo contracts, some like Cheyenne, Calgary and Reno, were for three years.

“But when we headed out in June that year, I was thinking we were ready for a change. The girls were getting older. I called Randy and asked if the offer was still good. He said yes.”

He went exclusive with the PBR in 2006.

A man of the people

Rasmussen is known for interaction with the audience and throwing in local references.

“Pay attention,” he said. “During the first session, I’m looking at the people around the arena. What do I have to work with? And you learn about the cities. If they have pro teams, the trends.”

At the recent event in Milwaukee, he noted that of the top 20 counties in the United States that drink the most beer, 13 are from Wisconsin.

Rasmussen shies away from politics. “That is low hanging fruit anybody can do,” he said.

In Billings, the announcers will quiz him on nicknames from high schools around the state. But that has become more difficult over the years.

“Those dang co-ops,” said Rasmussen with big laugh. “They’re getting me now. Medicine Lake will always be the Honkers and Chester will always be the Coyotes.”

'I never thought about quitting'

Billings is also the site one of his most emotional PBR moments.

He suffered a heart attack while working out at home in 2009. His wife Katy drove him into Choteau and he was life-flighted to Great Falls.

“During the process, I never thought about quitting,” Rasmussen said. “It didn’t hit until the doctor said, ‘You almost died yesterday.’“

A little more than a month later — “37 days,” he recalled — the popular funny man danced his way back into the arena to some of the loudest cheers heard in the history of the building.

“That was unbelievable,” said Rasmussen. "That was overwhelming on a great day.”

But he will be the first to admit not everything was all smiles.

His daughters are doing well. Shelby graduated from Montana State with a degree in marketing and is the assistant coach for the Bobcat rodeo program. Paige, a national champion goat tier, will graduate this spring with a degree in psychology.

But he and Katy have been divorced for almost six years.

“Maybe I should have gotten out earlier,” said Rasmussen, his voice getting quiet. “The last five, six years have exhausted me. No matter how it played out emotionally, I still had to be the happiest guy in the world. A part of me thinks I should have quit sooner for my family.

“But I just felt, at the time, it was the best way to provide for them.”

Now he will be seeing less of his second family.

“I’ll miss performing,” said Rasmussen. “I’ll miss the bullfighters, the announcers, the music guys. The locker room is a very intense culture. It’s like bunch of brothers sitting around the fire.”

Staying in the game

Rasmussen has always been more than a rodeo clown. He has been hosting his popular “Outside the Barrel,” show for 18 years at the National Finals Rodeo. Along with showcasing individuals from a cross-section of rodeo, musical guests have included Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan and Cody Brown.

He also has a podcast and hosts the NFR’s Buckle Ceremony following the nightly performances.

“That is part of the transitioning,” said Rasmussen. “I’ve always been a deep thinker. My brain is going that direction. I still have a propensity for comedy. I feel like I have a voice in the western sports world.

“My whole career, I know I’ve been so lucky. What a great life. I’m 55 years old and still get to be in a locker room and be in a starting lineup.

“When it comes down to it, I’m a kid from Choteau, Montana.”

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Flint Rasmussen to make final PBR appearance in Billings