GILLETTE - To hear him say skydiving is "stupid," you might assume Jake Reddy is the safe type.

Yet the 18-year-old willingly enters into a rodeo arena with a 2,000-pound bull and plays tag.

He is also possibly the first to receive a college scholarship to fight bulls.

He readies himself before a show in his battle gear. A hard plastic flak jacket wraps around his chest and back, covered by a pearl-snap Western shirt. He wears hockey pads on his hips and thighs. He laces up and tapes football cleats for grip in the loose arena dirt.

A signature burnt-orange Texas hat sits atop his head, and underneath he shields his eyes with black sunglasses.

As soon as the timer goes off for the 8-second count and the cowboy dismounts, Reddy springs into action.

Reddy is the loud, distracting force so the cowboy can sneak out of the arena while the bull focuses on him instead.

After that, he's on his own. His escape is entirely up to him. The bull approaches, hellbent on nailing Reddy with its massive skull and lifting him into the air.

Reddy has fought at the high school and college level.

"I've been fighting these things since high school," Reddy said.

So far, he's avoided any major injury, but he acknowledges that the reality is he'll get hurt - it's just a matter of when.

He makes little money when he fights at rodeos. But he goes to every rodeo he can, to get his name out to the big stock contractors. That's where the money is made.

One of the most congenial characters at the arena, he's constantly networking, slipping easily into conversations and dishing out handshakes.

"It lessens the tension," Reddy said. "If the cowboy sees that I'm confident, he thinks 'Well, if he's all right, I'm all right.' "

He's not sure yet if he wants to do this on the professional level. It's a "long, hard road" to get there, he said. That's why he's in college.

He hadn't planned on doing so, but when Gillette College coach Will LaDuke offered a scholarship, Reddy decided to take him up on it. "I knew Jake pretty well, and I knew he had some ability," LaDuke said. "He gets better every week. It's money well spent. He's a good-hearted kid."

How close he comes to danger doesn't enter his mind until after the bull leaves the ring.

"I don't think about much while I'm out there," Reddy said. "It's mostly about saving the cowboy."

Some bulls are more "hooky" than others, and he and the other fighters must be aware of which animal they're about to face. The 140-pound fighter describes being hooked, or hit, like "getting hit by a car covered in pillows."

He wears protective padding, but the sheer force of the bull's hit once lifted him 12 feet in the air. He stretches before every practice, just like the cowboys. He needs to be loose for lightning-quick movement.

It makes one wonder: Is this really worth a $300 scholarship?

The Gillette College freshman used to ride the animals that chase him. He admits he wasn't very good at it. But instead of quitting, his older brother, who rode bulls, encouraged him to stay involved. At the age of 8, Reddy entered the arena and began to fight bulls.

"He thought it was cool that we'd partner up," said his older brother, Lucas Reddy, now 22. "It worked out. It was kind of like a partnership."

Reddy's mother, Brenda Sinclair, watches eagerly, too.

This is her child, but she's not the least bit scared. She is among the biggest fans of her son's work.

"It's so much fun," Sinclair said. "You look for what they do right."

Sinclair fondly recalls Reddy's younger days. A hyper child, he often found himself in situations he shouldn't have been in because of his boundless energy. His siblings often would encourage it.

"They could get him to do anything," she said.

Reddy isn't sure how long he'll play the bull-fighting game. The expectations go up as the stakes and pain do.

"I guess when I break my neck (I'll stop)," he joked. "You get used to it so much. You can't go, 'Oh, my leg hurts, I can't fight anymore.' You're there for the whole rodeo. If you don't put on a show, there's going to be a lot of pissed-off people. You've just got to spit out the teeth and keep going."