By the spring of 2009, Jade Corkill was 21 years old, fresh off his first NFR and already carrying the confidence of a heeler who knew he belonged.
What he didn’t have yet was the financial cushion that separates a young guy scraping by from a professional who can weather the dry spells. That all changed in San Antonio when he turned in one of the greatest single-event performances in team roping history, to the tune of $152,193—plus his first George Strait Team Roping Classic truck and trailer combo.
At the GSTRC that March, Corkill doubled down in a way that still makes heads shake. Teaming first with Chad Masters, Corkill helped smash the previous GSTRC average record by more than a second, stopping the clock in 14.4 seconds on three head. With Brandon Beers, Corkill won second at 14.87. That was life-changing money in one haul.
“You go there thinking, ‘Man, I’d love to win the George Strait,’” Corkill recalled. “But I’d been four or five times before and never done any good. That year I told myself, ‘I just want to win about $20,000 and make it a good winter. I’m going to catch every steer turned for me by two feet.’ Then all of a sudden, I did, and the outcome was a lot bigger than I’d imagined.”
The payday did more than just pad Corkill’s bank account—it gave him the freedom to settle in as a pro.
“I won a truck, a trailer, and $152,000 in one day,” Corkill, now 38, said. “I’ve never got behind since. It gave me the chance to have enough money to stay rodeoing, because you need enough to lose for a month and still keep going. Everybody goes through those times. That lump sum let me buy my first place, buy some horses, even a couple rental houses. Everything from that point until now, I feel like it all stemmed from that day.”
Corkill’s calm approach in the short round showed the mental edge that would later carry him to three gold buckles. Holding both first and second high calls—and another callback down the line—he knew he had a margin.
“I thought, surely I can catch one out of two,” he said. “That relaxed me. At 21, I was just roping. I had a good horse, good partners, and it was my day. I caught them all.”
The next morning, Corkill drove that new rig—with his great grade gelding Ice Cube inside—straight to Houston and never looked back. More than just a career highlight, 2009 at the George Strait was the turning point that made sure Jade Corkill was here to stay.
