‘I found myself’: Steiner in control for bareback title — NFR DAY 6 PHOTOS

Bareback rider Rocker Steiner has become one of the most recognizable athletes in all of rodeo.

Long hair. Red performance gear. Boot spurs passed on from past champions Larry Mahan and Ty Murray. An outgoing and unfiltered personality.

But the weight of coming up one spot short of winning last year’s bareback riding title hit Steiner hard after the 2024 National Finals Rodeo. That began a point of self-reflection as Steiner tried to figure out who he was, as he put it.

“Last year, I left the locker room (at the Thomas & Mack Center) in the 10th round and whenever I got home, I didn’t exactly know who the hell I was or what I was really supposed to do,” Steiner said. “I kind of lost myself.”

Steiner not only found himself for 2025, but is in a great position to claim his first world title.

The 21-year-old from Weatherford, Texas, is leading the bareback riding standings with $421,185 in earnings and holds a lead of more than $101,000 over second-place Sam Petersen ($319,825).

Steiner won his second go-round Monday night with a score of 89 points. On Tuesday, Steiner posted an 80.25 on a reride and did not claim any earnings. Through six rounds of NFR, Steiner has picked up $117,638 in earnings.

“I think losing myself was the greatest thing to ever happen to me because whenever I found myself, it was a way better Rocker Steiner than I knew before,” Steiner said Monday. “I’m glad I lost myself and I’m more grateful that I found him again.”

‘I’m healthy. I’m focused’

Steiner is making his fourth appearance at NFR. At his first NFR in 2022, Steiner was the rookie of the year and finished 10th in the world standings. He said went a “went a little wild” outside of the confines of the Thomas & Mack during the 10-day rodeo.

The improvement showed in 2023, where Steiner won his first NFR go-round and finished fifth in the standings.

Then 2024 hit, where Steiner entered the final night in a four-man battle for the title, but was jumped by Dean Thompson on the last night. Steiner ended the year more than $17,000 behind Thompson for the title.

“It takes everything. World titles are not easy. That’s why not everybody in the world has one,” Steiner said. “There’s some great bareback riders, great ropers, great bull riders that never won a world title. Not saying that they weren’t good enough to win a world title, but it’s just sometimes some things don’t happen at the right time for some people. Maybe they’re battling injuries or just have ( expletive) luck.

“I’m having great luck right now. I’m healthy. I’m focused. I’m going to make it count while I’m here.”

‘I knew what I wanted’

Losing out on the world title lingered into the beginning of 2025. Steiner got bucked off and didn’t receive earnings at early events in Fort Worth and San Antonio.

It clicked in March when Steiner won in Houston. He’s gone on to win 15 events this season.

At NFR, Steiner is third in the aggregate, an average of all the riders’ scores through NFR, which would give him another big payday to extend is lead in the standings.

“I’m not here for the things I was here for my first year,” Steiner said. “I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t exactly know how to get there. That really hit home for me.

“This is the first year I really know how to get there so I do go out and have fun, but I turn it in a little bit earlier and I get focused because my great grandfather didn’t get to see my dad win the world and I’m going to make sure that my granddad gets to see me win my world title.”

‘Not in this alone’

Steiner isn’t the only rodeo contestant in his family.

His father, Sid, won the 2022 steer wrestling world title and his mom, Jamie, competed at the 2000 NFR in barrel racing. Steiner’s grandfather Bobby won the 1973 bull riding title and grandma Joleen was an NFR barrel racer.

“(My grandma) gets a little hot-headed. She’s wild,” Steiner said. “But without her, my granddad and my mom and my dad, my sister, I wouldn’t be anywhere where I am today. … I’m not in this alone, so it’s a lot easier.”

Steiner’s win Monday was extra special since it was his dad’s birthday. The spurs Steiner wears just as special, being the spurs from past champions Mahan, a six-time all-around champion, and Murray, a seven-time all-around champion.

“It means more now because this was his hero’s (Mahan) gift to (Murray),” Steiner said. “This was my hero’s gift to me and it takes a special person to give your prized possession to another person. … Larry Mahan and Ty Murray, two of my biggest heroes in my life, I still got one of them with me so we’re going to make him proud and Larry Mahan proud in the sky.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.