4-2-21 Digital PSN - Hi Res

INJURY, COVID FORCE SPEARS TO FIND WORK

Bull rider Jordan Spears’ 2020 season ended abruptly July 4 due to a partial tear in his left rotator cuff, a broken bone in his left shoulder and a broken right wrist. The Caldwell, Idaho, cowboy suffered the injury at the Killdeer (N.D.) Mountain Roundup PRCA Rodeo when he was bucked off J Bar J’s Jokers Wild. Spears, 28, a four-time NFR qualifier, knew he had a lot of injury rehab ahead of him. Between the

injury and the pandemic, Spears needed a source of income. “When you can’t rodeo for a living, you have to find another way to make money,” he said. “Once I started feeling better frommy injuries, I had to get a real job until I could start rodeoing again. I got a job in construction

Spears

driving trucks. I have a CDL license, and I was a laborer for a construction company, driving a dump truck. I got my CDL license when I was 18 because I knew I could always find a job driving a truck.” Spears worked at the construction company for six months. “I’ve always planned, as a reserve, to drive trucks

Photo courtesy Luke Branquinho World champion steer wrestler Luke Branquinho, far right, and his wife, Lindsay, share a moment with their sons Jameson (on the horse), Cade and Bear. Luke spent more time with his family than ever before because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

if I needed to, but for the most part I would rather rodeo, but you have to pay the bills some way,” Spears said. “It definitely makes you appreciate the sport more and the talent you have to be able to win and make a career and a living out of rodeo.” Spears finished sixth in the 2019 PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $211,933. FAMILY FIRST AND FOREMOST Tie-down roper Riley Pruitt, a two-time NFR qualifier, saw the pandemic- induced rodeo stoppage as a blessing. His wife, Jenna, had a son, Bryant, Feb. 25, 2020. The Nebraska couple also has a 2-year-old daughter, Chloe. “It allowed me to be home a lot more time than I normally would,” Riley said. “I would have been rodeoing in Houston, Austin and in California. My daughter was born in December of 2018, and I missed a lot of what she did the first year because I was gone rodeoing so much. “I was happy to be at home so much helping with the kids (last year). It was unique. It also gave me time to let my body heal. I got to be home for four months and get my body back into shape. I was also training young horses. It was good.” Pruitt acknowledged going back on the PRCA trail full time is tougher now. “Leaving home now is harder because my family is home and I just spent so much time with them,” he said. Like Pruitt, five-time PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion Luke Branquinho spent more days at home because of the COVID-19 quarantine. Branquinho and his wife, Lindsay, have three boys, Cade, 12, Jameson, 10, and Bear, 5. “That was absolutely amazing,” said Branquinho, who lives in Los Alamos, Calif. “Everything out in California was kind of shut down. I was able to do school stuff with my boys, play some baseball and do junior high rodeoing. My boys also spent a lot of time in the farming field with our hay. I got to spend everyday ranch life with my wife and kids. It was great. The only thing I don’t miss is being a schoolteacher. I think my boys have learned less with me. Teachers are dang sure underpaid.”

Photo courtesy Riley Pruitt Tie-down roper Riley Pruitt smiles with his wife, Jenna, daughter, Chloe and son, Bryant. The COVID-19 pandemic allowed Pruitt to spend valuable time with Bryant, who was born in February 2020.

ProRodeo Sports News 4/2/2021

ProRodeo.com

35