ProRodeo Sports News - April 12, 2024

TIME CAPSULE JOHN W. JONES SR.

PRCA ProRodeo file photos John W. Jones Sr. competes at the 1967 NFR in Oklahoma City. Jones is considered one of the best steer wrestlers of all time. Jones Sr., a nine-time NFR qualifier, was the first Rodeo Cowboys Association Rookie of the Year in 1956.

BY PRCA STAFF S teer wrestler John W. Jones Sr. was the first Rodeo Cowboys Association Rookie of the Year in 1956, a nine-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier, the 1970 world champion, and a member of the inaugural class of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. He was a source of inspiration for many steer wrestlers, including his son (and fellow Hall of Famer), three-time world champion and 13-time NFR qualifier John Jr. In 1981, they became the first father-son duo to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Then, in 1984, they became the first father son pair to win world championships. John Sr. was born June 26, 1932, in Fresno, Calif., and although he was raised around horses and cattle, he didn’t decide to rodeo full time until he became friends with the late ProRodeo Hall of Famer Lex Connelly. Connelly helped John Sr. get his start in rodeo after serving in the Army in Korea. Connelly and Hall of Famer Harley May practiced with the young John Sr., and Connelly entered him for half of his winnings to help get John Sr.’s bulldogging career going. Groundbreaking

The original Rookie of the Year: Hall of Famer John W. Jones Sr. Right around that time, John Sr. married JoAnn – the 1953 Sweetheart of the California Rodeo in Salinas. John Sr. didn’t just fly down the arena while steer wrestling, he also flew a 206 Cessna plane from one rodeo to the next – as well as for some adventurous trips for fly fishing and scuba diving. Like many rodeo cowboys, John Sr. loved to tell stories – such as the time he landed his plane in a cornfield and knocked on the farmhouse door to borrow their phone because he had realized the books were about to close on a big rodeo, while still flying from one rodeo to the next. John Sr. went on to win the NFR average title three consecutive years and a record four times overall (1965, 1968-70). At the 1970 NFR, he placed in six rounds and won his fourth average title by 15 seconds over runner-up Frank Shepperson. During his career and after retiring from ProRodeo, he worked on the family ranch in Morro Bay, Calif., farming sugar peas and helping JoAnn run the family dairy. One of John Sr.’s granddaughters, Katie, married New York Giants tight end Bear Pascoe on John Sr. and JoAnn’s 56th wedding anniversary in June of 2013. John Sr. passed away on Oct. 6, 2013.

ProRodeo Sports News 4/12/2024

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