Adriano Moraes

Adriano Silva Moraes (born April 20, 1970 in Quintana, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian retired rodeo athlete specializing in bull riding. He had been one of the leading bull riders in the world since the mid-1990s, with two titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and three Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world titles to his credit.

Moraes was born on his relatives' farm in Quintana, but grew up on the ranch his father managed in Cachoeira Paulista. He is of Portuguese descent on his father's side. He grew up wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, but started riding bulls when he was 15. At age 17, he rode in his first professional rodeo in Brazil, and placed second in his third rodeo, making nine times as much as he did riding a tractor on the ranch his father managed. Shortly after this, he quit school to ride bulls full-time.

Moraes began his career at small rodeos throughout Brazil, eventually becoming a regular winner on that circuit. After being encouraged by a former PRCA bull riding champion, Charles Sampson, he set a goal of riding full-time in the United States. After winning Brazilian national titles in 1992 and 1993, he moved to the United States in 1994, riding on both the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and PBR circuits.

He immediately emerged as a major star, winning the average at both the Calgary Stampede and the NFR, as well as winning the year's PBR title. Most notably, Moraes became only the third man in history to ride 10 out of 10 bulls at the NFR.

Moraes would again win the average at the NFR in 1996, and in 1997 was on track to win his second PBR world title until disaster struck in the form of a broken leg during that summer, forcing Adriano to sit out the rest of the year while Michael Gaffney overtook him for the world title. Moraes did become the first man to win a second PBR world title, which he won in 2001. His success on that circuit was instrumental in the expansion of the PBR tour to include events in Brazil. He went on to win a third PBR title in 2006, just narrowly beating out fellow Brazilian, Guilherme Marchi, despite suffering from severe back spasms during the PBR Finals. Adriano was the first bull rider in the PBR to win 3 World Champion Bull Rider titles. In that year, he won an all-time series record of $1.36 million—more than three times as much as any other rider. At the end of the 2006 season, his all-time earnings on the PBR circuit were $3.37 million, also a record. Moraes has been honored for his accomplishments with a life-size bronze statue of him on Little Yellow Jacket that stands at the entrance to the new PBR headquarters building in Pueblo, Colorado.

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