Kaden Profili won over $50,000 his first year in professional rodeo to take top honors in the 2023 Resistol Heeling Rookie of the Year race. The 22-year-old young gun—who calls Jacksonville, Texas, home—won the 2024 College National Finals Rodeo in June to stick another feather in his cowboy cap, and plans to keep climbing the roping ladder.
Q: Who taught you to rope, and what’s been that person’s most important piece of advice to you?
A: My grandpa, Kevin Blackwell, who’s my mom’s dad, taught me how to rope. Probably the most important thing he tells me is to never take a bad shot. Catch the steer when you know you can, he always says.
Q: You had a great rookie rodeo season heeling for Ty Arnold last year, then won the Resistol Rookie Roundup behind Cole Thomas. Describe you and Ty’s secret 2023 team sauce, and tell us why and how you and Cole connected for the Rookie Roundup in Fort Worth.
A: Ty’s always laid back, doesn’t ever get mad, and is easy to get along with and go with. He’s such a great guy, and is always helping me. Cole and I roped together at the Rookie Roundup, because Ty wasn’t a rookie.
Q: Was winning Rookie of the Year a specific goal?
A: Yes, it was. That was my main goal for last year. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it was pretty important to me to get that rookie title.
Q: Have you always heeled?
A: When I was younger, I started out heading. I won a truck heading when I was 10 years old. Then when I got big enough to heel and dally, at about 12 or 13, they let me start heeling.
Q: In June, you won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association team roping title roping with Hill College’s James Arviso. How fun was that, and what’s been your major at Texas A&M-Commerce?
A: It was pretty awesome. The college title is something I’ve always wanted to win. I’m an ag leadership and communication major, this was my fourth year at the College Finals, and I’d never had any luck there before. It was pretty awesome to finally win it, and retire a champion in the college rodeo world.
Q: Did stepping out onto that Thomas & Mack Center dirt with the rest of the 2023 rookies of the year last December, after finishing 39th in the 2023 world heeling standings, light a fire in you to return to Vegas and rope there yourself?
A: Yes. Just getting in there and feeling that energy and all those people in that building makes you want to rope there so bad. It’s something I’ve never felt before. There’s nothing like that arena.
Q: You’re heeling for Brenten Hall at the rodeos this year. When did the two of you join forces, and what do you like best about your team?
A:: My first rodeo with Brenten was Odessa (in January) this year. Brenten’s been there and done it (qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo) three times now. He knows which rodeos to go to, he’s a laid-back, good dude, and he’s always happy, win or lose. He’s really easy to heel behind, too.
Q: At press time in the middle of June*, you two were a top-10 team in the world with about $50,000 each in 2024 earnings. That’s about what you won all of last year. What’s the goal for 2024, and how excited are you about the year you’ve been having?
A: The goal is to get in that yellow arena—to make the Finals—and I’m pretty excited. It’s been a great year. We went to 80 rodeos last year, and won $50,000. To have that won before the summer even started this year makes me feel like we have a pretty good chance, and just have to keep winning.
*As of Aug. 21, the date of digital publication, Kaden Profili sits at No. 12 with $92,227.
Q: Who’s your main mount in 2024?
A: I have three horses right now. The most special one would be the sorrel mare I call Grace. She’s 7, and is just a good horse. She’s fast, and always gives me a good shot. Ty had her when she was 4. I rode her when she was young, and wasn’t sure about her. Then I bought her when she was 6, and rodeoed on her last year. She took it like an old veteran from the start. She’d never seen the crowds and music before, and handled it like an old pro. Grace is the horse I won the CNFR on this year.
Q: What do you like to do to kill time out on the road?
A: We’ll play a little golf. But mainly, me and Brenten play baseball on the Play Station in our down time, when we aren’t driving. Brenten’s pretty dang good at it. He’s been playing a little bit longer than I have, so he’s hard to beat.
—TRJ—
