Less than hour before rider introductions last Friday, Versus announcer Craig Hummer joked with Sean Willingham about a statistic to be aired later on the television broadcast.

It had nothing to do with his first-round matchup with Jelly Bean. Instead, it was an illustration pointing out that Willingham’s riding percentage has dropped each of the past five years after a career-best 53.93 percent in 2006. That year he finished fourth in the world standings.

In the years since, he’s dropped to 46.67, 45.45, and 44.09 percent, followed by a career-low 39.33 percent last year.

In 2011, he’s at 38.98 percent, and that’s after going 2-for-3 in San Antonio last weekend.

“It just kind of lit a fire under me,” said Willingham, who has ridden in 210 consecutive Built Ford Tough Series events, “looking at my stats from what it used to be when I was on top of the world and competing for a World Championship. That’s the way it should be.

“I just lost the edge and the drive to want to ride and go for a world title, and they were just picking on me and that lit a fire under me. I just showed them my riding percentage should be up where it used to be at.”

“It’s one of those years I haven’t been consistent enough,” he continued. “I’ve been plucking here and there.”

He finished sixth in the average in San Antonio.

It was only the fifth time this year he’s finished in the Top 10, but that stat is offset by the fact that he’s gone 0-for-the-weekend eight times year. However, he’s earned at least one qualified ride in the past five BFTS events.

Willingham’s best finish came in Las Vegas when he finished second to Luke Snyder at the Last Cowboy Standing.

“I’m glad they put that up there, because, it did, it put it in the back of my mind that, you know what, I’m a lot better bull rider than I’ve been proving to be this year, “ Willingham said.

“We’ll get that riding percentage up every week for the rest of the year.”

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright