Most rodeo events last a mere eight seconds, but that’s plenty of time to wreck a body. 

At the rodeo, it can be a rough ride: Road-toughened cowboys versus 2,000-pound bulls.

Losing can be brutal.

The Justin Sports Medicine Team is quick to provide first aid and more.

Their base is a small room near the cowboy’s dressing room

“They trust our judgment, and we listen to them,” said team member Don Andrews.

In two decades, they’ve learned how to quickly treat all sorts of injuries and how to prevent others.

Tommy Cook tore a muscle in his chest wrestling steers.  

“One minute you got it all, and the next minute you can’t rise your arm up,” steer wrestler Cook said.

If Rodeo is, as some believe, the most dangerous sport, then cowboys could be the toughest athletes in the world.

As you might expect, bull riders account for 50 percent of all injuries. The most common one is a concussion.

That’s why rodeo Houston and NASA are joining forces.

Will Lowe is being fitted with ear plugs that contain three sensors.

“Each one measures acceleration in a particular direction along flat surface,” NASA Dr. Ted Cox said. “So in this one earplug it will measure front to back, side to side and up and down.”

During his bronco-busting ride they will gather the data and over time hope to determine just how much a human head can safely take.

“We would like to look at materials and equipment we could design that would keep them under the injury threshold,” Andrews said.

Will Lowe admits to a headache every now and then, but so far he’s avoided serious injury.

“If you think about it, it’s going to happen,” the bareback bronco rider said. “Put your trust in the lord and nod your head.”

The accelerometer research could be a cowboy’s answered prayer.