Playing with numbers … PRCA money leaders by age
Courtesy PRCA 

 
The minimum age to join the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association is 18, but there is no retirement age. Just ask Mel Potter about that. Potter, a tie-down roping qualifier at the first NFR in 1959, is now 75 and still competing at PRCA rodeos throughout the Midwest. He is on the verge of qualifying for the Dodge Great Lake Circuit Finals again; he made it two years ago, competing with his grandson.

Steer roper Dan Fisher, 59, was 15^th in the July 26 PRCA World Standings, and Ralph Williams, 52, was 10^th. Ivan Teigen, 51, is leading the Badlands Circuit steer wrestling standings, and Joe Bell Sr., 55, just won a PRCA rodeo last week and is sixth among First Frontier bulldoggers.

Tennis has long made a point of calling itself “The Sport for a Lifetime,” and while the sometimes violent nature of rodeo would seem to say otherwise, there is a case to be made for the sport of cowboys making that same claim. Once it gets in your blood, it seems almost impossible to walk away from it.

What follows is a list of top money earners by age in a snapshot as of July 26 from 18 to 48. The best age to maximize your earnings? The glib answer is, ‘Whatever age Trevor Brazile is this year.” The truer answer would be 30. Or 23. Or maybe 24.

There are six PRCA cowboys of those ages who have earned more than $50,000 so far this year. Age 30 may get a slight edge, because there are also two cowboys within $1,000 or so of that milestone. Or you could give the edge to the 24-year-olds, because the average earnings of the top six were higher ($69,691) than the others.

The biggest earner in the 40-and-over set is tie-down roper Stran Smith, 40, who had $79,768, just $2,075 ahead of 41-year-old saddle bronc rider Rod Hay. The biggest surprise in that age group is that Billy Etbauer is not the top-earning 47-year-old, ceding that distinction to team roper Bobby Harris ($37,087 to $17,128).

18 – Jacob O’Mara, Prairieville, La. (BR)               $29,830
19 – Kaden Richard, Roosevelt, Utah      (TR)           $14,907
20 – Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas (TD)            $68,900
21 – Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore.      (BB)            $50,140
22 – Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev. (TR)                    $79,009
23 – Tyler Smith, Fruita, Colo. (BR)                    $66,997
24 – Shawn Hogg, Odessa, Texas (BR)             $101,064
25 – Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa (SB)           $78,323
26 – Ryan Jarrett, Summerville, Ga. (SW/TD)             $86,058
27 – Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash. (BB)                      $111,109
28 – Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah (SW/TD) $61,009
29 – Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn. (TR)              $79,009
30 – Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla. (TR)         $93,412
31 – Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont., (TR)                  $65,996
32 – Chad Denton, Berry Creek, Calif. (BR)              $72,680
33 – Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas (TR/TD/SR)  $163,847
34 – Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore. (BB)                      $68,410
35 – Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas (TR)               $50,219
36 – D.V. Fennell, Neosho, Mo. (BB)                     $47,742
37 – Turtle Powell, Stephenville, Texas (TR)            $88,231
38 – Justin Blaine Davis, Bartonville, Texas (SW)       $42,771
39 – Kory Kontz, Sudan, Texas (TR)                      $50,552
40 – Stran Smith, Childress, Texas (TD)         $79,768
41 – Rod Hay, Wildwood, Alberta (SB)            $77,693
42 – Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas (TD)                $59,915
43 – Steve Purcella, Hereford, Texas (TR)               $26,191
44 – Rocky Patterson, Pratt, Kan. (SR)          $36,787
45 – Tommy Cook, McAlester, Okla. (SW)          $17,295
46 – Rod Hartness, Pawhuska, Okla. (SR)         $25,221
47 – Bobby Harris, Highmore, S.D. (TR)          $37,087
48 – Monty Joe Petska, Turlock, Calif. (TR)             $27,687

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