They say you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. That’s not just a motivational quote—it’s the truth, especially in rodeo.
Early in my career, I was lucky. I got to be around guys like Roy Cooper, Fred Whitfield and Bobby Harris. And when I say “around,” I mean in the practice pen, in the truck, in their world. That wasn’t normal. Not everybody gets to be around winners like that, and I knew how rare it was. I took full advantage of every second of it.
The biggest thing I learned from being around greatness? That it’s attainable. These guys weren’t born on a different planet. They were just people who did great things. And when you’re up close to it, when you get to see their habits and systems firsthand, it makes you realize—you can do it, too.
There’s this myth that people at the top are built different. But what I saw was a process. I saw structure. Whether they knew it or not, they had systems in place that helped them perform. And that’s all I wanted to be around—just to learn that part of it.
But the real key wasn’t just the roping or the mechanics. It was the mindset. Roy Cooper taught me something that can’t be written down in a playbook: confidence. That’s the most intangible, most powerful thing you can pass on. And he passed it on to me.
When I stayed at Roy’s place, there were NFR qualifiers constantly coming through. They’d rope, they’d practice, and then they’d leave. And Roy would say to me, “They can’t do anything you can’t do.” That might sound simple, but to a young guy still fighting doubt, it meant everything. That kind of belief—especially coming from someone who’s done it all—flips a switch. Suddenly, you don’t just hope you’re enough. You know you are.
That’s what I try to explain to younger guys now. You can’t do it alone. When you’re isolated, those doubts just get louder. But when someone you respect looks you in the eye and says you’ve got what it takes, it changes things.
And I wasn’t out there competing with those guys. That’s another thing I wish more people understood. The people I looked up to weren’t my competition—they were my fuel. I was feeding off them, learning from them. I was watching everything—how they handled pressure, how they practiced, how they thought. I’d mimic styles in the practice pen, even on the dummy, just to see if I could feel something different.
Bottom line? If you want to grow, get around people who stretch you. People who make you better just by being themselves. Watch how they do things. Ask questions. Shut up and listen when they talk. And don’t be afraid to believe you belong—because if you’re putting in the work, you do.
—TRJ—
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