03/10/2026
For a kid growing up in a rodeo family, John Jones Jr. took a different path—at first.
While rodeo ran deep in the family, young John was more interested in the ball field than the arena. Football, baseball, basketball—those were the games that held his attention. Until he turned fifteen. That’s when rodeo finally caught up with him. And once it did, everything changed.
Jones took to it quickly, developing the kind of skills that turn heads in a hurry.
By the late 1970s he was already winning championships, capturing California High School Rodeo Association titles in both tie-down roping and steer wrestling. In college rodeo, he continued his climb, winning the NIRA West Coast steer wrestling championship and qualifying for the College National Finals three times.
The professional ranks were next. He bought his PRCA permit in 1980. One year later, he was Rookie of the Year.
Born August 13, 1960, in Santa Maria, California, Jones went on to become one of the dominant steer wrestlers of the 1980s. He captured three world championships in bulldogging and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 10 times in the event.
But his versatility didn’t stop there. He also made the NFR twice in tie-down roping—proof that his talent stretched far beyond one lane of the arena. In 1988, Jones capped another remarkable season by winning the National Finals Rodeo aggregate title.
From a teenager who once chose ball games over broncs…to a world champion who helped define his era.
SOURCE: PRORODEO HALL OF FAME
PHOTO: NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM