He's most interested in serving the Lord, but between prayer and thanks, professional bull rider Lee Akin doesn't mind being spiked to the ground by a 2,000-pound bull. So long as when he dusts himself off, his faith is still intact. The 29-year-old Akin, who grew up in California watching his mother race barrel horses, is one of the top riders (and one of just two African-Americans) on the Built Ford Tough Professional Bull Riding Series (PBR).

Now based in Weatherford, Oklahoma, Akins says his success in the brutal sport of bull riding [if you haven't seen it on ESPN2, just use your imagination] lies in his ability to adjust any bull's temperament and style. "I have a loose, fluid style,” Akin says.

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