Bareback rider’s future is literally cast in stone

Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 | 10:33 a.m.

Cody Jessee is like most bareback riders in that he will want his tombstone to reflect that he was a solid son, a loving husband and father, and he treated rodeo with the reverence it deserved.

Unlike most of his cowboy brethren, Jessee, if he so chooses, can stencil, sandblast and engrave his own headstone, a trade he acquired when he majored in public relations at UNLV.

"Most people think it's pretty neat," Jessee said. "They're like, 'Wow, that's kind of weird.' It is. It's different, I guess. Just a way to make a living."

It is unclear whether bareback riding is his vocation and tombstone-making is his hobby, or vice versa, although his 300 days on the rodeo circuits this season and his debut at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo answer that question for now.

Jessee, 25, has been a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association since 1998, but he wrote a breakthrough chapter this year. He made his big mark at the Calgary Stampede, where he won the bareback competition and pocketed a $50,000 bonus.

Of the 15 bareback riders who qualified for the NFR, Jessee was seventh with earnings of $65,801 in 2002. It took him four days to get comfortable here, then he zapped the field by winning Tuesday's go-round, and nearly $14,000, with an 89 aboard Grated Coconut.

The 5-foot-10, 140-pound former Rebel took third Thursday, earning $8,309 by scoring an 82 atop Dippin Wagon Box and shooting his NFR take to $37,546.

He trails hotshot 19-year-old Will Lowe by seven points for the average title with three rides remaining.

"This is the neatest thing I've ever been to," Jessee said.

Becoming intimate with the UNLV campus from 1997 until 2000, no NFR participant should be as comfortable as Jessee. Sometimes he'd peer into the Mack and daydream, then it was onto the next class. Twice, he even worked as an NFR spare hand.

He just never could have imagined what it truly feels like to jump on a saddle-less horse in a chute, before more than 17,000 fans who all have their eyes on him, until last Friday night.

"I never really pictured myself being here. It was just more of a dream, a real big goal," Jessee said. "I didn't really realize I was actually riding here until I got on that first horse. Finally, it set in like, 'Man, I finally made it here.' Being here is awesome."

Jessee was born in Walla Walla, Wash., and he has always sought thrills. He skateboarded on his own half-pipe in his youth, and he snowboards when his schedule allows. He hunts deer and elk with a bow and arrow, and pheasant, geese and ducks are his shotgun targets.

To help defray his living expenses and school bills at UNLV, Jessee accepted rodeo coach Rick Griffith's offer to help with the headstone business that Griffith owns.

With more side money and experience, Jessee added to his collection of tombstone tools. Upon leaving UNLV, he moved to his mother Lori's hometown of John Day, Ore., and he continued the trade he picked up from Griffith.

He hopes to qualify for four or five more NFRs before he finishes his rodeo career, then he will devote all of his work time toward carving and polishing tombstones in Oregon.

"I'll get married, have kids, start a family and try to settle down a little bit," said Jessee, who is single. "Hopefully, it'll be a good family business I can pass on to my kids some day. It's always going to be needed, so ... "

The Franklins live in Moundsville, W.V., and Cody suffers from cystic fibrosis.

Eberhart, a highly decorated combat pilot and military officer, is in charge of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, part of the Caribbean and all waters 500 miles off U.S. shores.

He was also a guest at the opening day of the 2001 NFR.