Rob Smets

Robert Edward Smets (born September 11, 1959, Palo Alto, California), known professionally as The Kamikaze Kid, is an American former professional rodeo bullfighter.

Biography Smets was born in Palo Alto, California to Bill and Ebe Smets. As a child, he lived in Thailand, Singapore, Puerto Rico, and Australia.

In 2012, Rob Smets starred in Jägermeister's "A Stronger Bond" television and digital campaign.

Career While bull riding as a teenager, Smets taunted some of the bullfighters for not protecting riders well enough after the riders fell. They challenged him to try being a bullfighter himself, which he did. He was also inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in April 2010. Smets came out of retirement one final time at the 2011 PBR World Finals, where he fought the first three bulls of the first round of the event. He wore his old baggy outfit that he used prior to the 2001 PBR World Finals. Also, he was the inaugural recipient of the PBR Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. In 2017, Smets was inducted into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame in the Bull Fighters category. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Smets was also a stock contractor, although he only owned one bull. But that one bull was a highly ranked PBR bucking bull, #80 Jeremiah. The bull's full name was Jeremiah 33:3 for the bible verse. Jeremiah was active from 2013 to 2017 and began bucking on the elite Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) circuit in 2014. In 2015, Jeremiah was chosen as a world champion bull contender at the 2015 PBR BFTS World Finals.

Injuries During his bullfighting career, Smets was injured many times, including suffering a broken neck three times, in 1992, 1996, and 2006. He retired from bullfighting in 2006, after breaking his neck for the third time.

Honors 2006 ProRodeo Hall of Fame 2010 Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame 2014 California Rodeo Salinas Hall of Fame 2017 Bull Riding Hall of Fame 2017 Molalla Walk of Fame 2019 Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum