Adriano Salgado has never been hard to find in a locker room. The Batatais, Brazil, native is usually laughing, smiling or yelling “fight, fight, fight” to fire up his teammates before a game. That energy has followed him throughout a career built around family, competition and a love for bull riding that started at home. Both of Salgado’s parents rode bulls, and his father, Adriano Gonzalez Salgado, eventually stepped away from the sport to work as a ranch hand and provide for the family.

Salgado grew up alongside his younger brother Thiago Salgado, better known as “Baby T,” with the two dreaming about riding in the United States and competing at the PBR World Finals. Their family later opened a Western sporting goods store in Brazil, and their father even custom-made their riding vests and chaps. Those childhood dreams eventually became reality for both brothers, and now they share a locker room with the Carolina Cowboys.

Adriano’s breakthrough came in 2021. After working his way through the Velocity Tour, he went 2-for-3 at the Finals, including a 90-point ride on Grey Smoke, to win the 2021 PBR Velocity Tour Championship and qualify for his first PBR World Finals. He qualified for the World Finals again in 2022 and also became the first rider in PBR Teams history to record a qualified ride, scoring 89.25 points on American Gangster for the Missouri Thunder in Cheyenne.

After stops with Missouri and Austin, Salgado found another gear with Carolina. He went 7-for-15 during the 2024 Teams season and posted a career-best 93 points on Flyin Wired during one of the Cowboys’ perfect games. He later rode the same bull for 92 points in another perfect game as Carolina became the first team in league history to record multiple perfect games in a season. The Cowboys eventually reached the Championship Game and finished runner-up.

A year later, Salgado and the Cowboys finished the job. He was part of the 2025 PBR Teams Championship squad that left Las Vegas holding the gold buckle after defeating the Missouri Thunder by a single ride score on Championship Sunday. Salgado contributed when it mattered most, riding J Lazy S for 87.50 points as Carolina closed out its title run under the brightest lights. After coming one game short the year before, he finally got to celebrate a Teams championship with the Cowboys.

Now, Salgado gets to chase more success alongside Baby T. On game days, that brotherhood blends right into the larger Cowboys family. Adriano can be heard yelling encouragement from the chutes, keeping the energy high and rarely going long without a laugh. For a rider whose career has always been rooted in family, having both his blood family and team family together makes Carolina a natural fit.

Away from the arena, Salgado is a married father of one who still looks up most to his dad. He trains hard with functional and CrossFit-style workouts five or more times a week and says that if bull riding had not become his career, he could have seen himself becoming a personal trainer. He follows UFC, soccer, the NFL and NBA, roots for the Carolina Cowboys and prefers anything involving wheels or the outdoors, including mountain biking, dirt bikes, ATVs, skiing, boating and hunting.

His tastes are just as energetic as his personality. Barbecue is hard to beat, Burger King gets the fast-food vote, Fast & Furious is a favorite movie and his playlist moves between gospel, rap, hip-hop and country, with Eminem among his favorites.

But Salgado is probably best understood around his teammates. He rides hard, laughs often and brings a little extra noise to every game day. Whether he is climbing into the chute himself or yelling “fight, fight, fight” for the guy next to him, Adriano has made sure the Cowboys never have to wonder where the energy is coming from.