LORENA, Texas — When the Lorena Leopards take the field, High School junior, Wyatt Jones is snapping the pigskin to the QB and protecting him at all costs.
But when the lights go on Fridays, he heads for another sport - one at the rodeo.
“It’s a lot easier tackling a person than a steer, I’ll tell you that," Jones said.
He wrestles steers, a grueling sport on the body.
“It’s a crazy event," he said. "You gotta jump off a horse running 20 miles per hour to a steer that’s running 30 miles per hour, so it gets pretty wild.”
When you're jumping off of one moving animal to another, injuries are just a way of life.
“I’ve cracked some ribs too, and cut across my stomach right here several times," he said pointing at the injuries. "I mean it gets pretty bad, I’ve broken some fingers and busted some lips doing it, but that’s about it.”
He has many nicknames, including Willis and Big Country. But some just refer to him as a crazy man.
“It’s something I can’t do," teammate Joe Gutshall said. "I give props to guys that do it because I'm not jumping on no steer that’s running 30 miles per hour. I’ll stay on the ground.”
The Lorena senior said that some of that crazy energy that Jones has at the rodeo bleeds onto the football field.
“He’s always high on energy before games, he’s always screaming like a mad man, sometimes I get scared."
The Leopards won a state title in 2021. For Jones, he's proud of that accomplishment but would trade it in for one in his other sport.
“I’d probably have to choose a national championship in steer wrestling because that’s just me showing that I put in the work to win it and everything," he said.
If you think you know of an athlete who fits the bill for Off the Field, where Central Texas athletes have unique talents off of it, email Matt Lively at mlively@kcentv.com.
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