Joe Beaver had so much success in his career and in the midst of it all, he went through some of life’s biggest battles.
“Now, with that, I had the downfalls that people never want to go through. I went through the drugs, the loop getting beat because I couldn’t function and couldn’t figure out why… It was the partying, it was the drugs, you know they took their toll on me,” Beaver said.
He had an overdose in 1991 and hit rock bottom. One thing that Beaver says is that nobody can deny him his credibility. He has been to the top, the bottom and come back to the top. All of this came after he had knee surgery and tried to come back before he was ready.
“I can remember to this day I said, you know what, I’ve done this to myself. There’s only one way out of it and that’s me,” Beaver said.
He did just that. He was so determined to come back and be the best again. He had something to prove.
In 2005, Beaver’s father was diagnosed with brain cancer. It came back in 2006 and Beaver thought he was sitting good enough in the standings to go home and be with his dad. His dad told him that he did not expect Beaver to sit at home and miss the finals again because of him so he promised him 30 days. Beaver went back out on the road and cinched his spot at the National Finals Rodeo when his dad passed away two days later.
“He told me 30 days, he lived 33 days from the time I flew out. You think you’ve got it all going and things are good…” Beaver said.
It wasn’t long after his father passed that Beaver’s son, Brody, passed away. After Brody’s funeral, Beaver gave himself two choices. He could go back to his old ways or he could help somebody else have the same kind of success that he did. Beaver chose to be happy and successful.
