12/14/2024
This is the good Grinch of NFR 2024. He’s gone country, and will not be stealing Christmas. But he did steal the show in the Round 3 contestant grand entry last Saturday night. Rookie bull rider Jeter Lawrence was not green with envy, food poisoning, the stomach flu or even the world-famous NFR crud. He was just paying his dues, and upholding a longstanding NFR bull riders tradition, because hazing doesn’t only apply to the bulldogging here at the Super Bowl of Rodeo.
This tiny teen from Council Hill, Oklahoma—19-year-old Jeter is 5’ 6” and tips the scales at a slight 125 pounds; Council Hill is the neighboring town to the Steer Wrestling Capital of the World in Checotah—was a good sport about paying his debt.
“It’s just a rookie bet,” Jeter grinned. “If you’re a rookie at the NFR, and you don’t make the whistle on your first bull in Round 1, there’s a list. It’s basically a list of dares, and whoever rides the longest gets the least punishment. Whoever gets bucked off the quickest gets the worst of it.”
Think Santa’s naughty-or-nice list with a cowboy-locker-room twist.
“I was lucky and almost rode my bull (Jeter bucked off of Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Bill Fick Surprised at 6.58 seconds), so I got the least punishment,” he explained. “The older guys get to pick your punishment.”
There have been five bull riders inside these yellow NFR bucking chutes for the first time here this year—regular-season leader TJ Gray, Wacey Schalla, Cooper James, Jace Trosclair and Lawrence. To take it from the top in that order, Gray bucked off at 3.53 seconds; Schalla lost contact with his bull rope at 2.92; James twisted Dakota Rodeos’ Trump Train for 86 points to split second and third in Round 1; Trosclair was 84.5 aboard Big Rafter Rodeo’s Silver Bullet to split fifth and sixth; and Jeter darn near made the whistle, making it 6.58 seconds.
Translation: Schalla, who’s this year’s Resistol all-around rookie of the year and also had impressive ba****ck riding earnings this year (he’s won $224,680 riding into Round 10, and is ranked fourth in the world all-around race), had to pay the piper first and endure the worst punishment. Schalla had to get his ear pierced.
Gray was next in line and, as Jeter put it, and “Had to do the Edward 40 hands, where he had two 24-ounce beers taped to his hands and had to pound them” faster than eight seconds right after Round 3.
So you see, Jeter got off easy going green.
“I thought it was pretty fun being the Grinch in the grand entry,” said the 2024 California Rodeo Salinas champ; a feat this pro rodeo freshman considers the highlight of his first-ever regular season (he’s wearing the buckle here this week to back that up). “All the cowboys got a good laugh out of it, so it was just a good time. Cooper and Jace, who’s the class clown in the bull riders’ locker room, stayed on, so they had no price to pay.”
I had to ask…Did The Grinch get fined for playing along as the butt of the bull riders’ inside joke?
“Nope,” Jeter grinned. “I had a collar and a cowboy hat, so was in cowboy dress code. And I was wearing my back number. So it was all good, and all in good fun.”
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good Round 10 night!
These are the stories of No Spin Rodeo.
