Minors make good team on roping circuit

It’s been a major year for the Minor family, capped by having three members compete in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Brothers Brady and Riley Minor, and their cousin Jake Minor, have been plying their team roping trade all week at the Thomas &Mack Center, hoping to grab a share of this year’s $10 million purse. It’s gone particularly well for teammates Brady and Riley, while Jake and roping partner Garrett Rogers started slow but have collected some cash the past few days.

Riley and Brady, the header and heeler, respectively, got out of the gate quickly by tying for third in the first go-round, then busted out to win the third and fourth go-rounds, and added a fourth place in Thursday’s eighth go-round. That has added up to a cool $84,038 for each of them.

Brady made it to the Wrangler NFR with a different teammate in 2006. The brothers began roping together in 2007, qualifying for the NFR in 2008 and six more times, including the last four years. Riley, 28, has definitely enjoyed the run with big brother Brady, 31.

“Probably the best part is it’s easy to travel together,” Riley said, and as anyone who follows rodeo knows, there are a lot of long days and overnights on the road. “We can tell each other what we’re thinking. With someone else, you don’t want to hurt their feelings. With your brother, you can say what you think.”

Not that these two go out of their way to rib each other. But there’s a little bit of that big brother-little brother thing going on.

“Just being the younger brother is kind of tough sometimes,” Riley said. “As long as I listen to him, it’s pretty easy I guess. There’s been days where we don’t see eye to eye, but you’ve gotta get over it if you’re partners.”

And Brady’s perspective? “He’s been a pretty good brother. He’s matured really well for a header. He’s grown up fast and done really well.”

All the Minors hail from Ellensburg, Wash., and Brady and Riley split time between there and a house near Wickenburg, Ariz., always keeping them in good weather to practice their craft.

“A lot of guys don’t have a consistent roping partner,” Brady said. “We grew up together, and we’ve been roping since we could walk.”

Jake, a heeler, just turned 25 and is competing in his first Wrangler NFR. He and Rogers broke through in the sixth go-round Tuesday by clocking 4.3 seconds for a three-way split of second place. They followed Wednesday by cashing a fourth-place check in 4.5, upping their earnings for the week to $36,795 apiece.

“We got a couple,” Jake said Friday afternoon.

Having Brady and Riley to look up to has helped Jake make his way to the NFR.

“They’ve helped me a lot, ever since I was little,” said Jake, whose dad is the brother of Brady and Riley’s dad. “I wanted to team rope ever since I started walking. I’m sure what made it more real for me is watching Brady and Riley do it, and win at it.”

This is the first year Jake has gone full-out with his scheduling in an attempt to qualify for the season-ending event. Brady, who as the oldest is also the schedule master of the bunch, pitched in to help Jake and Rogers get set up well throughout 2016.

“That’s kind of a big job,” Jake said of getting entered for all the rodeos. “Brady wanted to help us out, so he would enter us. We went to some rodeos with them. They kind of took us under their wing, made sure we got to the right rodeos, so that was pretty cool. This is my first time going to that many rodeos.”

With the scheduling help, Jake was able to focus on roping, which paid dividends with the NFR qualification — and might pay a few more with a good run in tonight’s 10th and final go-round.

“It’s been a pretty awesome event, even though I haven’t done very good,” Jake said. “I’m still pretty happy and thankful to be here.”

Indeed, even if the paychecks could have been better, they can’t replace family, something all the Minors are surrounded by this week.

“It’s awesome having a lot of family here,” Jake said, noting relatives of all three roping Minors have been flowing in and out of town over the course of the rodeo. “Both our parents have been here the whole week. I’ve dreamt about the NFR forever, and this is the first time I’ve made it. It’s just pretty cool.”