After four Gold Buckles, nine NFR qualifications and more than $2 million won, bull rider JW Harris is calling it a career.
Harris, 34, has two children ages 10 and 8, and found himself wanting to spend more time with his family. He also said over the last few years that he has had to change his riding style and compensate for a slower reaction time.
“I’ve been seeing the writing on the wall because the last few (rodeos) I went by myself because my kids would be in school or whatnot and I just didn’t want to be there (at the rodeo),” Harris said. “I was wanting them to hurry up the rodeo so I could get back on the road and go home. When I came home from Mercedes, I was like, I think this is it.”
Harris is also known for his impact on the rodeo community and his leadership in the sport of bull riding, probably because he knows how much it has done for him.
“If it wasn’t for rodeo, I would have never met my wife and wouldn’t have what I have today,” he said. “It’s all because of rodeo.”