Matt was born in North Louisiana in 1982 and grew up fishing and playing baseball where he was a shortstop and third baseman in the summer months. In the fall, he would play football as a quarterback and enjoyed hunting. He was introduced to Rodeo in his early teenage years where he tried to ride a few steers and began hanging around the 2 x 4 Ranch in Heflin, Louisiana. He found very quickly that his position in the sport would be as an entertainer and clown. Working his first event in the late 1990s things took off quickly. By 2004 Merritt had worked his first PBR. That same year he would marry his wife Bonnie where they would begin to start their family in North Carolina. Merritt still lives in North Carolina today. He and Bonnie have just celebrated their 20th anniversary. They have two daughters. Ruia who is 15 years old has just acquired her PRCA permit as a contract act where she performs with her Liberty horses. Their youngest, Etta, is 12 years old and competes in every event in female rodeo. Since that first PBR in 2004, Merritt’s accomplishments have grown and continue to do so. He has been featured at some of the nations greatest rodeos, including Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, Salinas Rodeo, Reno Rodeo, San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo, the Canadian PBR World Finals, The Badland Circuit Finals, 10 times to the PBR Australia Grand Finals, nine times to the PBR Velocity Tour Finals, the Kid Rock Rocking Rodeo, three times to the American, two times to the PBR World Finals, and many more.
Merritt’s off the hip brand of humor, provides him with a unique opportunity to entertain people of all walks of life. He rarely uses a script and thinks on his feet while in the arena. “Everyone has a cell phone in their hand these days and with that cell phone, they can entertain themselves at any moment with exactly what they are interested in” - says Merritt. “The challenge is to keep the audience's attention, and I find that on the spot humor seems to do that better than anything else I have found.” Merritt has performed in 48 states and six different countries. He has found himself in a few different movies and done a little bit of stunt work. His biggest role was playing himself in the Nicolas Sparks and Fox Studios movie “The Longest Ride”. He looks forward to every event or opportunity to entertain people. He loves his job with all of his heart and hopes that his excitement for entertainment is contagious to the audiences he performs for.