J.W. Harris (bull rider)

James William Harris, known as J.W. Harris (born July 14, 1986) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Championship Bull Riding (CBR), and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) circuits. He won the PRCA bull riding world championship four times at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). Harris is the first bull rider since Don Gay to win four PRCA bull riding world titles. He is also the first since Gay to win three of them consecutively. Harris was also the 2014 PBR Rookie of the Year.

Early life and family James William Harris was born on July 14, 1986, in Coleman, Texas. He was named after a roughstock rider, James Garlick, and his own great-grandfather, William. His father, Mark, was the PRCA Texas Circuit Rookie of the Year in 1989. Harris was raised in Peaster, Texas, because his father was employed on a ranch there. When Harris was 15 years old, the family moved to May, Texas. He was one of an 18-person graduating class at May High School.

All of Harris' family are rodeo people. He sat his first bull when he was four years old. When he was 18 years old, Harris also experimented with saddleback bronc riding and bareback bronc riding, but discovered he did not have the temperament for it, so he decided to focus on bull riding.

Career In 2004, Harris hit the semi-professional rodeo trail for the Cowboys Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA), won the year-end bull riding championship for said organization, and won $6,501.23 prize money. The next year, he started competing professionally. He competed in the PRCA from 2005 to 2014. Starting in 2007, Harris joined the PBR tour, in one of the lower-level tours; the Challenger Tour. He competed on the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) from 2014 to 2017. He competed on the CBR tour from 2005 to 2014, then again in 2018. In January 2018, he announced he would retire from the PBR and return to the PRCA. Going forward in 2018, Harris would compete solely in the PRCA.

2005–06 seasons Harris joined the PRCA in 2005. In his first year as a professional he managed on little money for expenses. Following a no score in Nampa, Idaho, he ran out of money for expenses. His uncle paid when they needed money to drive to Cheyenne Frontier Days. On Championship Day, he won the championship round. He finished second in the average. He won $10,000 that day and bought take-out for his uncle. This was the first year Harris made the CBR final year-end World Standings. Also this year, Harris joined the CBR televised tour. For the next nine years, he finished among the top ten.

In 2006, it was at the PRCA Xtreme Bulls event in Reno, Nevada, that he made a qualified ride on the bull Werewolf for 96 points which brought him into the forefront of bull riding. A69 Werewolf, a double bred Naccarato bull, was a finalist in the PRCA and PBR in the same year, a rare accomplishment.

2007–08 seasons On January 17, 2007, at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas, a relatively unknown 20-year-old J.W. Harris won the PRCA Xtreme Bulls riding event. Most of the observers that day had never seen him perform. "I've never heard of him...But, if he keeps riding like he did tonight, he's going to have a good future," said Don Gay, an eight-time PRCA bull-riding world champion. Gay also commented that Harris's riding would improve as he matured. He added that he would become more educated on injuries. "He's going to get better at taking care of himself," Gay said. "When you are young, you don't think about that so much. But as you mature, you learn how to do that because you know that there is no check coming in when you are sitting on the sidelines. I really like J.W. Mostly because of his attitude. He believes in himself and in what he can do." Gay became more convinced of Harris' "outstanding" capabilities at an Xtreme Bulls event in Reno, Nevada, where Gay was broadcasting for ESPN. "He rode Werewolf on a reride he didn't have to take," Gay recalls. "He scored a 96, and stole the show. That really impressed me."

In February at a PRCA Xtreme Bulls event in San Antonio, Texas, Harris received his worst injury of his career in 2008. "I guess my worst injury was (when) I had a bull crush the left side of my face last year in San Antonio. They had to put plates and screws and all kinds of good stuff in there". After he received five concussions this season, he started wearing a helmet and believed he started becoming more successful. He was the second world champion bull rider after BJ Schumacher in 2006 to do so.

At the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Harris made qualified rides on six of his 10 bulls at the finals for an aggregate score of 507 points, which brought him past leader Chance Smart in the World Standings in the Average. Smart rode only three of his bulls, which earned him only $36,644 and secured second place. Harris secured $96,364 in average earnings. He finished the season with total winnings of $208,437, which was enough to earn him his first PRCA bull riding world championship. The PRCA champion is decided on earnings, not points, unlike the PBR. "This was my childhood dream," said Harris. "That's all I ever wanted to do was win the world." Harris achieved the honor in his third trip to the NFR. Now I just need seven more to catch Don (Gay)," he said.

2009 season Harris either won first place or tied for it in 15 rodeos, including notable ones at San Antonio, Texas; Fort Worth Texas; and Reno, Nevada. Harris claimed he was far ahead of the other contestants due to riding more than half of his bulls. However, on July 20, at the Days of '47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City, Utah, on its opening round, he recorded a no score.

As of September 3, Harris led the World Standings with $162,186 in earnings. He earned $2,503 in the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour portion of the Kitsap County Stampede the weekend before. Wrangler Million Dollar points counted toward the Justin Boots Championship located in Omaha, Nebraska, the Wrangler tour points did not. Despite his successes, Harris maintains that life on the rodeo tour with "the guys" is the best part of bull riding. "They are your extended family", he said. "They are your best friends; you can count on them for anything".

At the NFR, Harris won the bull riding world championship. It was his second in a row. He broke his hand in the second ride and did not get a qualified ride on any of his bulls. It was only through his $108,004 lead coming into the NFR that he was able to pull off the win. He won the championship despite failing to earn any money during the first nine rounds of the NFR.

The year 2009 was his best finish in the CBR circuit, which was 4th place. Most of his CBR fans expected a higher ranking due to his winning and high-placing at several, and later on winning the first round of the CBR World Finals and eventually the event average, which allowed him a spin on the bounty bull.

2010 season On October 29, in Kansas City, Missouri, in Kemper Arena, at the American Royal, at his last competition before the NFR, Harris completed an 89-point ride on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo's For Real and it brought him $9,419 in winnings. It was enough to win the American Royal, a Gold event on the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour. He beat Chad Denton and 19-year-old Jacob O'Mara by two points to get it.

Harris entered the NFR in 8th place, about $50,000 behind the leader Wesley Silcox. On December 9, Harris won the 7th go-round. This was his third consecutive victory. He rode Frontier Rodeo's Smoke Screen for a score of 94.5 points, only 1.5 points shy of the arena record. From among 15 competitors, he was the only one with six eight-second rides. "It's the highest score I've had at the Finals and third highest I've ever been". said Harris, whose NFR total of $92,644 was second among the 119 competitors.

On Friday night, December 10, in Round 9 of the NFR, Harris claimed his third consecutive bull riding world championship. He placed second in the 9th round with an 89.5 point ride on Insaniac. It was his seventh qualified ride, and two more than any other rider in the first nine rounds. He also won the NFR Average championship. His total season earnings were $194,287, plus $44,910 or more from Saturday night. Harris broke B.J. Schumacher's NFR earnings record from 2006 of $142,644 since he had earned $106,484 at the NFR plus at least $44,910 on Saturday night. He rode seven of 10 bulls and won four rounds. He won $158,738 that year to conclude the NFR with $246,541 in total earnings combined season plus NFR earnings. He rallied from 8th in the World Standings to win and set a world record in NFR winnings. He was the first bull rider to win three world titles, and also consecutively, since 8-time champion Don Gay.

2011–12 seasons

On January 29, 2011, at a Cinch CBR Tour event at the Lea County Event Center in Hobbs, New Mexico, Harris won the event. He made a qualified ride on the bull Psycho Todd for a score of 88 points in the long round. Then, in the championship round, he made a very high 91 point ride on the bull Directory Assistance. The combined score of 179 points was more than he needed to be proclaimed the winner. Along with the winner's check, J.W. Harris received a Resistol 20X cowboy hat as well as a Henry custom CBR Golden Boy rifle. Harris told CBR President Tuff Hedeman that "It's awesome to get off to a great start to the year and ride in front of all these great fans in Hobbs. It couldn't be any better."

In May 2011, Harris won another Cinch CBR Tour event; this time the George Paul Memorial Bull Riding at the Val Verde County Fairgrounds in Del Rio, Texas.

Shane Proctor entered the 2011 NFR with what some said was "an insurmountable lead". Harris spent the NFR eroding Proctor's lead until he was only $20,000 away from that lead entering the 10th round. However, Proctor still won the championship, even though he broke his left arm entered into the last event.

In July 2012, Harris won the first round of the CBR World Finals at Cheyenne Frontier Days, which allowed him a spin on the bounty bull. He made a qualified ride, and drove his newly won Mahindra Max Tractor out of the arena. Harris would later end up finishing second in the CBR World Finals event average.

In Round 1 of the 2012 NFR, Harris took the lead with a 90.5 point ride aboard Four Star Rodeo's bull Stink Eye. He came into the NFR only a bit more than $7,000 behind long-time World Standings leader rookie Cody Teel. Teel answered with a qualified ride that brought him 4th place. Teel rode Gauteraux's Iron Horse for 74.5 points and earned $167.225. Had Harris won this NFR, it would have been his fourth title. Harris moved from second place to first by earning $18,257 and earned a total of $170,886. Ultimately, Teel won the championship in his rookie year.

2013 season

Harris went back to riding with a cowboy hat this season. He had been wearing a helmet since 2008 due to five concussions. His example had contributed to the number of riders wearing helmets, but now Harris said that he received concussions even while wearing a helmet, and that helmets can't prevent concussions no matter how they are designed.

On Friday night, December 13, at the NFR, in Round 9, Harris tied for 1st place and won his fourth bull riding world championship. Harris rode the bull Little Shyster for 87.5 points to tie with Trevor Kastner's ride on the bull Fire Show. Harris earned $16,677 to bring his season total to $214,067. His NFR total earnings after Round 9 were $83,684, which put him in 1st place. He placed second in the aggregate with 518.5 points for six rides.