Plenty of elite team ropers in the ‘80s never went to the NFR, but were famous for dominating jackpots. These are the wolves who created the need for handicapping. These are the toughs who made it possible to make a living roping (by suing the PRCA).
Forty years ago, more than a few guys stayed home and became No. 9 heelers before it was a thing. Because jackpotting paid the bills. Catching 20 in a row was how you won all-night, enter-up ropings against go-fast NFR qualifiers killing time between rodeos.
“Phil Luman could have gone to the Finals,” said 18time NFR heeler Bobby Harris about 13-time NFR heeler Ken Luman's brother, who terrorized jackpotters around Montana. “He heeled as good as anybody. There were a lot of guys like that who were dominant. What everybody doesn't understand about those guys is they made a good living where they were, and that was good enough. They actually helped me become who I was. Because you had to learn to beat them.”
True enough: jackpotters and rodeo junkies were as different from each other in the ‘80s as Tears For Fears from Alabama. For one thing, the only decent money was at big jackpots, and you could enter twice at amateur rodeos.
“The bottom line was way better going to amateur rodeos,” said Troy Perkins, a dominant heeler from Pendleton, Oregon. “Not only that, but the rodeo secretaries would help you. You could leave home on a
