Lessons from Jesse Brown

From handling sticks and balls to handling steers, athletics has driven Oregon’s Jesse Brown to be the best.

Jesse Brown was an athlete long before he considered jumping off the back of a running horse onto a steer and bringing it to the ground. 

He didn’t grow up with a rope in his hand or dream of following in his father’s footsteps by getting on bucking horses. He did spend his time in Baker City, Oregon, fostering a love of sports, particularly those that involved a ball. 

While it’s difficult to pin down exactly where that love started, it’s easy to see where it led. Jesse participated in flag football and played little league baseball and basketball through most of his childhood years. He would get on a horse for cattle work and was around cowboys, but his focus was always on sports. His grandmother was a big Portland Trail Blazers fan and so was he. If they weren’t watching games, Jesse was throwing a football or shooting hoops because it was what he liked to do. 

In high school, he played football, basketball and baseball. While football is where he had the most success, he learned a lot of lessons from each sport that he continues to use today. 

Jesse has been among the elite steer wrestlers that qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) for the past five years. He joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 2016 and was the Resistol Rookie of the Year in 2017. His first NFR qualification was at Globe Life Field in 2020 in Arlington, Texas, where he won the first round. He was grateful for that experience but couldn’t wait to get to Las Vegas and compete in the Thomas & Mack Center where he had received that rookie buckle. 

That happened in 2021 and since then his lowest season finish has been sixth, with his best being third in 2023. This year, he got the win at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and is on track for another trip to Las Vegas in December. And, for Jesse, a lot of his success can be attributed to growing up with a ball in his hands. 

Jesse was on Baker High School’s first state 4A championship football team. He led the team as their quarterback and was the state’s offensive player of the year in that division as a senior. He threw for 21 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards. 

After high school, he was a preferred walk on at Washington State University (WSU) as a quarterback. His love for football was waning and being realistic he knew his time on the gridiron was coming to an end. WSU did not have a rodeo program, but that didn’t stop Jesse from jumping into the deep end of the pool. 

He joined the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association and entered his first rodeo without every sliding off the back of a horse. His family was great friends with the Knowles. One of Jesse’s first calls was to Blake Knowles who quickly got him in the driver’s seat. 

To keep swimming in the steer wrestling pool, Jesse transferred to Montana State University in Bozeman where Beau Clark was the assistant rodeo coach. Knowles also spent some time at MSU and Clark had played football there. Jesse took his experiences from team sports to steer wrestling by surrounding himself with the right “team” of people from the beginning. 

“I think there are a lot of similarities between team sports and steer wrestling,” Jesse said. “You’ve got the hazer, and you are usually in a rig with four other guys. Then you have a bunch of other buddies. Being a good person and being a good teammate is important. If you are out here on your own, it’s probably not going to work out well for the long run.” 

Jesse’s previous athletic endeavors were the perfect preparation for his chosen career path. He learned a lot about conditioning and keeping his mind right. 

“With all the sports I played, it put me in a so many different situations. There was good and bad, and I learned how to deal with it and how to compete. I think team sports are so important. You’re around other guys and in tough scenarios. Things are always easy when you’re winning. But when things aren’t going so good, people can fall apart. I learned how to be competitive but also keep my cool, be positive and not get too worked up when things went wrong.” 

With the variety of sports that Jesse competed in came a lot of coaches and the lessons he learned from them were invaluable for his rodeo career. One that had a major impact was Paul Gambelton who coached Jesse in basketball prior to high school. 

“He really helped me with the mental aspect of competing,” Jesse explained. “He focused on being on time and taking stuff seriously, even at that age. I think that was a huge part of me and who I wanted to be. Most of those coaches would really focus on the small details of things. That’s no different than rodeo. The small details are very important.” 

Jesse pays attention to all of those details and is constantly striving to get better. That’s an atmosphere he brings to the table with his teammates as well.

“He’s always ready to pitch in,” said 11-time NFR steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge, who has been a traveling partner. “If we have a couple of hours somewhere, he’s motivating us to go to the gym. He always pushes us to do more and be better.” 

A highlight for both of them was tying for the win in round seven of last year’s NFR. It’s safe to say that Brown still gets in quarterback mode and uses strategies to keep winning and motivate the team. He watches the details and works hard to take advantage of opportunities. He recently had a good steer at the San Angelo Stock Show Rodeo and stopped the clock in 2.9 seconds. That tied an arena record set by Roy Duvall in 1986 and then Bryan Fields in 2007. It is the fastest time of Jesse’s career. The record lasted a mere 24 hours when five-time world champion Tyler Waguespack bested it with a 2.8.

While that was a moment that was definitely worth celebrating, he kept it all in perspective and started thinking about the next steer. That is the difference in team sports and rodeo. 

“In other sports, you play a full game. If you make a mistake, you might have a chance to make it up later in the game,” Jesse added. “In rodeo, for the most part, you get one chance and you have three or four seconds to get the job done. I’ve really had to learn to capitalize on the main moment.” 

Jesse Brown is still a sports fan. But his passion is rodeo and he’s grateful that he’s found a way to make a career out of it. His family has been a big part of every athletic endeavor that he has tried and now, while his team looks different, they are still on the sidelines supporting him and watching while he makes his dreams come true.