Team Jokers set to bring energetic, passionate approach to AT&T Stadium
Rodeo legends turned coaches confident in squad ahead of Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo May 17.
04/12/2024
PUEBLO, Colo. – Each of the five Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo teams which participated in last month’s talent-ushering draft in Nashville took differing approaches in the one-of-a-kind, rider-welcoming event.
From executing trades and giving up depth draft assets to acquire the No. 1 overall selection …
… to trading back and playing the quantitative approach, or merely staying pat and making the most of the draft positions they were initially given, rodeo fans may have gotten a glimpse into what team coaches and front office players have in store for next month’s game-changing showdown.
RELATED: Ready, set, rodeo as five of six Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo team rosters unveiled in Nashville
But after connecting with several of the coaches who have put their name in the ring to further mentor today’s top-ranking rodeo athletes, there’s easily one common denominator within all 10 (five head coaches, five assistant coaches):
EVERYONE is excited.
“I think it can really help the rodeo industry and obviously any time you can do something with Kid Rock and be partners with him, I think it will bring new eyes to the sport,” Team Jokers Head Coach Sid Steiner shared.
“It’s going to be an exciting event. You’re going to have the greatest rodeo athletes in the world competing on a team stage, inside AT&T Stadium, with Kid Rock playing a show before, during and after … There’s going to be something there for everybody.”
Naturally, we thought we’d start our round of check-ins with none other than the man nicknamed “Sid Rock.” Appropriately earned as the former PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion was known to compete with a bit of rebellious showmanship. Constantly finding himself in the media spotlight, he understood the show didn’t stop when any given event did.
And in a world where it “Takes one to know one,” Team Jokers are going to trust Steiner’s experience as the performer and now ring leader, alike.
“We plan to bring a lot of energy and we’re going to be ready to go when the gates bang,” the newly-named skip added.
“Our team is going to have passion and energy and we’re excited to get to AT&T Stadium.”
While Steiner has transitioned his talents from the dirt itself to sitting atop the chutes, last competing some 20 years ago, his vibe has stayed the same.
He’s amped up about this opportunity.
From getting the initial call and ensuing ask from PBR CEO Sean Gleason about putting his “mentoring” hat on to selecting his son with the first overall selection during last month’s draft and rounding out the remainder of the team’s loaded roster, he’s not holding back the emotion just over a month out from the enticing new style of competitive rodeo.
“I’ve coached all of my kids growing up. I’ve coached their youth sports teams and I do like coaching. It’s funny how that kind of brings out the competitive side of you. Even though you aren’t the one participating, you sure feel like you are,” he shared.
“I’ve coached Rocker (Steiner, his son) since the day he came out of the hospital. We’ve played every ball sport. He wake boarded at an incredibly high level. He was the 9 and under World Champion. We’ve travelled everywhere together. I can’t think of a day we haven’t been working to get better at whatever we were doing.”
Exiting the talent-selecting showdown with both his son, Rocker (bareback riding), and daughter, Steely Steiner (barrel racing), on the Team Jokers roster, it will officially be a family affair when all six teams gather May 17 to play out the first-time format in Jerry World.
While Steiner, working alongside fellow rodeo legend in Joe Beaver, the team’s assistant coach, knew he wanted to coach his kids during this unique opportunity, rumors began to spread that Rocker Steiner was trending to become one of the first selections in the draft.
“We kind of got word the day before that Rocker was going, if not No. 1, before our pick at No. 4. Obviously, he’s my son and I want him on my team. He’s who I would’ve picked first and I think they (Team Misty Mountain Hop) kind of knew that. I talked to Charmayne (James) and Justin (McKee) and they said ‘Hey, look. We’re going to pick Rocker first unless you want to do a trade,'" Steiner said.
Taking off his “Dad” hat and donning his “Team Joker” lid at that point, he looked to his fellow shot caller for some help.
“I told Joe .. and everybody’s got an assistant coach, but with Joe Beaver, I say we’re co-head coaches because I don’t feel like he’s my assistant," he said with a laugh.
"I told Joe ‘I’m going to leave this one up to you. I‘m emotionally attached.’
But he immediately said ‘Let’s do it. I want him. Let’s go!’”
And well, the rest is history, as Jokers began their evening not only with the big swap, but by staying within the Steiner bloodline, selecting Rocker Steiner first overall.
(Stay tuned: More on the Jokers x Misty Mountain Hop blockbuster trade, plus additional background on the entire Steiner family, later this month)
Already with two NFR qualifications (2022, 2023) to his name at just 20 years of age, he’ll forever be revered alongside the Austin Gamblers’ Jose Vitor Leme should this thing turn into something more than a one-off event, as the two-time World Champion was selected No. 1 overall a few summers ago during the inaugural PBR Teams Draft in April, 2022.
“So, we made the trade to go first and took Rocker off the board. We were able to keep our second-round pick, so we got Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi (seventh overall), who I couldn’t believe was still on the board," Steiner said.
"And she was obviously somebody that we had wanted very badly, so we had her pretty high.”
As a three-time Barrel Racing World Champion (2007, 2009, 2023) and two-time NFR Aggregate winner (not to mention her 17 NFR qualifications) who’s now earned more than $3 million in career earnings (including a single-season record of $270,563 during her standout 2023 campaign), there’s honestly no reason Tonozzi should’ve still been on the board this late in the draft.
Especially when Steiner and company know how confident she is in not only her ace riding partner, but flexible and willing to do whatever it takes to get the win for Team Jokers next month.
“First of all, that’s the only event (barrel racing) where you know the draw. They bring the horse. She’s the World Champion, and this isn’t her first World Championship, but she is the current World Champ, and that would tell me and most everybody else that she had the best horse last year and does the best job riding it,” the coach explained.
“She’s got multiple horses and this a deal where they may need to make multiple runs. So if a girl only has one horse, and a lot of these girls don’t want to run their horse twice, or possibly three times … really having a woman that is that talented and wins as well as she does on multiple horses, her sitting there at No. 7 really blew my mind.
I had told Charmayne, if I was just using my head, and emotions were out of this, I would’ve picked a barrel racer No. 1, had my son not been at the table. Really, the smartest play is to go with a barrel racer, because you know the stock they draw. They are bringing their draw to the rodeo, so when she was still there, and already at the top of our list, we were pretty surprised and excited to have her.”
Playing into some early-draft strategy, Jokers had secured their pair of aces, but were forced to sit out the next 17 picks, as Jokers sent a few early-round selections to Misty Mountain Hop in exchange for the No. 1 selection.
“We got the two people we really wanted off the bat and then by the time we got back in with our third pick, there were still a lot of people we wanted on the board, so we didn’t feel like the swap hurt us that bad,” Steiner continued.
“There were some people that we had our eye on that got selected in that time frame, but like Joe said, it was neat that we got to sit back and watch what everybody else was doing.”
The entire 2024 Team Jokers roster can be viewed below:
Breakaway Roping: Cheyanne McCartney: 37th Overall Pick Joey Williams: Added to Team Following Draft
“Looking over our team, it’s honestly a Dream Team. And the thing is … to have Joe Beaver helping me … Not only one of the greatest of all time, but he’s such a sharp guy and he knows all of these kids. He’s stayed in the game as far as knowing everybody. I told Joe that I haven’t been able to watch the timed events as much lately.
Between the TV he does and he does a lot with camps, rodeo schools, roping schools for kids … a lot of guys still stop by Joe’s house to tune up. Really, he is a scouting report as far as the timed events go. He not only knows everybody, he knows their first second and third horse, so it was pretty handy to have Joe hanging with me during that draft. Looking at the team as a whole, I don’t think we have a weak spot really anywhere,” Steiner said confidently.
“We want a team that has fun. We want a fun team when we get together because the more fun you have, the more you win. And that was how we approached it.
‘Who are we going to have fun with? Who’s got big energy?’
That was a big reason we selected Rocker as well. Rocker has a ton of energy and you can build a team around that. I think in every sport, you should have somebody that has energy and everyone feeds off that.”
Peeling back the layers even further, he isn’t just looking for athletes with big smiles and a good attitude. He wants, and welcomed to his squad, grinders.
“Who can I work with, you know? It’s like Brody Cress is an incredibly talented saddle bronc rider. But Brody Cress is a freakin’ nut, I mean Brody is a freakin’ psycho. And I mean that in a good way. I can coach a psycho,” Steiner detailed.
“If you give me somebody who’s a “win at all costs” guy, that’s the guy I want on my team. We’re the Jokers, but we’re going to be no joke. I can tell you that right now. It’s funny that our name is the Jokers, but we’re going to be far from a joke.”
Each and every member of this squad is undoubtedly proven, if not willing to give it their all when the team-based rodeo event comes to life. Steiner, and each of the other four teams had access to the top rodeo professionals in the world, after all.
So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise when you see the skip rocking a big ole smile and bringing the energy next month in Arlington, Texas.
“This is the first event of its kind. AT&T Stadium. Kid Rock. This is an exciting time to be on board. Truthfully, we don’t really know what exactly we’re getting into,” he shared with a truthful, yet sarcastic laugh.
“We’re going to be doing some of this on the fly and it’s really neat to come watch something being built in front of your eyes. This thing is going to change and be fluid as the games go on. We’re going to have to make changes as we go.”
Switching hats one more time, he donned his “Event marketing” cap in concluding fashion.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Steiner shared, plain and simply.
“If you’ve got a night in town, this is the one you need to come see.”
With Team Jokers and each of the other five talent-packed teams set to put on quite the show May 17, as Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo invades AT&T Stadium for the very first time, fans are reminded to secure their tickets before they’re gone, as this is going to be the event of 2024.
Photos courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
