Outside the Arena with...
J.W. Hart By Georgia Akers
When I say the name “Iron Man”, anyone that follows bull riding knows I am referring to JW Hart. Many of us remember him as a tenacious bull rider. Since my column is called “Outside the Arena” I wanted to focus on the JW Hart, announcer, stock contractor and Dad! Trying to catch up with him was kind of like herding cats. He is busy. We finally did a phone interview as he was driving to some event and of course the phone kept going dead. It took many calls before I got my answers. JW was gracious and so patient. As you read the interview, you will discover a real cowboy where his handshake is his word and a really nice guy.
Photo provided courtesy of the Hart Family.
Tell us about yourself. I was raised in Marietta, Oklahoma. My dad had ridden bulls before I was born. He was in the oil fields. When the oil crash occurred in the early 80’s, the family struggled. Dad encouraged sports. He did not care what we picked but it could only be one sport. I picked rodeo because it was all I had ever been around. I did not really understand football and there was no baseball at my school. Most every kid’s favorite event was bull riding because it was the most exciting. When growing up, my favorite rider was Donny Gay. But then I had an opportunity to meet Lane Frost. A friend of ours introduced us when I came over to ride in a practice pen. I was 11 years old and riding steers. He was so nice to this 11-year-old kid. He became my all-time favorite. Daddy would never let me think I couldn’t do this. When I was 8-10 years old, I wanted to be a world champion. How about your family? I met Leann, but at the time we were dating other people. A bunch of us had dinner with our parents. My dad said “you need to find a woman like that.” A couple of years later we started dating. We dated a year and were engaged for another year. I later told my dad “Well, I went out and got her!”
Humps-Horns.com · 10 · April 2021
