ProRodeo Sports News 2022 Wrangler NFR Preview Issue

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

J. Tom Fisher’s improbable journey to steer roping champ

T here was a time – just more than 18 years ago – when becoming a PRCAWorld Champion Steer Roper was the last thing on J. Tom Fisher’s mind. That’s because of a horrific accident that happened to him steer roping at an unsanctioned PRCA event on Nov. 13, 2004, in Graham, Texas. “I roped the steer and got my trip and my horse’s back leg went over the rope and then my horse went to bucking and I got thrown off the right side of horse,” Fisher said. “When I hit the ground the way I fell it just snapped my leg. My leg was turned backwards, and my toe was touching my knee. Then I got drug all over the arena, which felt like for an eternity, and it was probably for 30 to 40 seconds.” The damage was severe. Fisher wrecked his knee, tore his achilles tendon, and broke his tibia and fibula, resulting in four surgeries over three years. He had 13 screws, two plates and two rods put in his leg, which are still there. “I was on crutches for 30 out of 36 months,” Fisher said. “I also had two years of physical therapy to be able to walk again. No one could explain how I didn’t lose my leg because of how bad the injuries were. “It was kind of touch and go for a week, whether I was going to lose my leg. It came very close to them having to amputate my leg.” Fast-forward to Nov. 5, 2022, and Fisher was celebrating with his first career PRCA gold buckle at the Kansas Star in

Mulvane, Kan.

“That’s probably the craziest thing about all of this is how bad that wreck was, and I was able to come back and win a gold buckle,” Fisher said. “I still can’t believe it. It is incredible.” The Fishers have a storied roping history. It started with J. Tom’s grandfather M.M. Fisher Jr., who was a standout calf roper and horse trainer in the 1940s and 1950s and then it went to J. Tom’s dad, Dan, and J. Tom’s brother, Vin Jr. to J. Tom. Dan (16), Vin Jr. (19) and J. Tom (10) have 45 NFSR qualifications. “We’ve been around this a long time and our family now has a gold buckle and that’s something we will be remembered by forever,” J. Tom said. “Vin, I’m sure will get a gold buckle and people might even forget who won it between he and I, but we have one right now and it means the world to me. I also can’t thank everybody enough for all the support, especially my mom, Dr. Pam Fisher for hauling Vin and I to junior rodeos for years.” It didn’t take J. Tom long to say where he’ll put his fresh, new gold buckle. “On my belt,” he said. “I will be wearing that the first day I get it and my name is on it and it is in my possession. It will go on and I will be wearing it maybe every day the rest of my life.”

Tracy Renck is the editor of the ProRodeo

Sports News . He previously served more than seven years as a media coordinator at the PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism with the last several consumed by ProRodeo.

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10 ProRodeo Sports News 11/18/2022

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