Jeff Collins
Bareback Riding • Inducted 2025
Jeffrey Collins grew up competing in wrestling, not rodeo. His first time in the arena wasn’t until his freshman year of high school. Yet from that first ride, he was hooked. Collins continued competing in high school rodeo in bareback and bull riding. He won the Missouri state high school bareback riding championship and finished fourth in the bull riding his senior year.
Collins cracked into the PRCA with his permit in 1988. The following year he bought his full PRCA membership card. After competing at the collegiate level, Collins won the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Bareback riding title in 1992, a feat he would repeat in the Prairie (1995 and 2000) and Turquoise Circuits (1997). He also captured National Circuit Finals Titles in bareback riding in 1992.
Collins’ road in the PRCA was never a smooth one. He made his first appearance at the National Finals Rodeo in 1994. And while he repeated his showing in 1995, he had to sit out the last two rounds due to a shoulder injury. 1996 saw Collins recovering from a broken hand and finishing 20th in the World. He came back in 1997 with a third NFR qualification to have a personal tragedy strike his family just days before the NFR. A shoulder injury hampered 1998. By 1999, things were on the right track, but Collins was unable to grasp the gold buckle.
The 2000 season started off hot and continued all the way to the Finals. Collins entered the ten-day event in fourth place. He set the pace early by winning the first two rounds and placing in the next two. Collins won the NFR average in 2000 with a then record 816 points and set a single-season earnings record for bareback riding.
After leaving rodeo, Collins began giving back to the Sport of Rodeo. He teaches in the college town of Carthage, Texas. In 2019, Collins coached the Panola College men’s rodeo team to a National Championship. He has also been honored as a National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Coach of the Year.
Accolades
Biography
World Championships: 1
Bareback Riding: 2000
National Finals Rodeo Average Champion: 1
Bareback Riding: 2000
Circuit Finals Rodeo Champion: 4
Bareback Riding: 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001
Circuit Finals Year-End Champion: 4
Bareback Riding: 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000
Born: March 2, 1969 in Kansas City, Missouri
Joined PRCA: 1989
NFR Qualifications: 6