FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The lights will be bright inside Canvas Stadium next week, but there will be one missing. One smile. One handshake. One wink. One voice saying, "Helloooo." But the light that Jerome Robinson brought to this sport, this lifestyle, and this town is the kind that never dims. It lives on in the people, in the dirt, in the roar of the crowd, and in the moments where the sport he loved most continues to ride forward.
Next Monday and Tuesday, when PBR’s Last Cowboy Standing rolls into Colorado State University for the first time, the timing couldn’t be more poetic. Jerome Robinson's story begins right here. And now, the sport he helped build from the back pens to the big screen returns to honor him in the place where his dream took root.
Born in the Cornhusker state of Nebraska, and raised in Brandon, Robinson's cowboy aspirations started early. At just three years old, after attending the National Western Stock Show in Denver, he declared to his grandmother that he was going to be a bull rider. And he did just that. Eleven trips to the National Finals Rodeo. Dozens of buckles. Fourth in the world twice. But Jerome Robinson was never just a rider. He was a builder.
At Colorado State University, he originally told his family he wanted to be a vet. What he really wanted was to rodeo, and he often joked that he majored in exactly that. He rode for CSU, graduated in 1969 with a degree in vocational agriculture, and from there, never looked back.
He rode bulls until 1982, but what followed was arguably more impactful: four decades of pioneering the way rodeos and bull ridings were produced. He ran Western Trails Rodeo out of Fort Collins. Created the centralized rodeo entry system (PROCOM) still in use today. He produced events all over the world and served as PBR’s arena director for nearly 30 years. From hauling in dirt and setting up panels to scripting show flows at Madison Square Garden, Robinson’s fingerprints are on every piece of modern Western sports production.
And yet, for all that, it was never about the spotlight.
"He never forgot where he came from," said best friend Paul Chadwick. The truth? He never left.
If you knew Jerome, you knew his stories. Some true. Some hilariously embellished. You probably heard a few versions of how he lost his finger. You were probably offered a Zebra Cake before a show. And if you needed anything—advice, a contact, a credit card, a confidence boost—he had your back. Jerome believed in people before they believed in themselves. Ask Ty Murray. Ask Cody Lambert. Ask Curt Blake. Ask the thousands who feel a little more lost without his name at the top of their contact list.
"He was a teacher, a mentor, and the kind of guy who made you feel like his equal, even when you knew he was five steps ahead," said Blake, who worked alongside Jerome for more than 35 years.
Robinson helped launch the Ty Murray Invitational. He built PBR’s Touring Pro Division. He scouted venues in Paris, wrangled bulls in Venezuela, dumped vodka into his soup in Russia, and lit up every back hall of every arena with that same disarming charm. When a production needed fixing, Jerome fixed it. When a young rider needed direction, Jerome gave it. When the sport needed to grow, Jerome figured out how.
He was inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor in 1999, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Bull Riding Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2020. And while that hardware is impressive, his greatest legacy lives in the people who carry his lessons forward.
“I feel like it’s going to take five guys to do what Jerome did, and he did it all like it wasn’t anything,” Murray once said. He had a thousand things going on, and he’d still come meet you with a smile.
Fittingly, PBR Last Cowboy Standing will take place on CSU’s campus, where Robinson once took his first college rodeo ride. It will feature two nights of world-class bull riding, headlining concerts from Cross Canadian Ragweed and Jon Pardi, and a powerful tribute to the man who helped shape the sport.
To honor Jerome's lifelong commitment to education, leadership and Western tradition, PBR is proud to support a special fundraising campaign benefitting the Colorado State University Rodeo Team. All donations go directly toward scholarships, travel, and operational needs for one of the country’s longest running college rodeo programs.
To donate in Jerome's honor, please visit: CSU Rodeo Team Donation Page.
This one’s for Jerome. For the boy who sat in the Denver Coliseum stands and dreamed. For the man who helped turn bull riding into a global sport. And for the legend who, even in passing, continues to light the way.
See you down the trail, Jerome.
For more on Jerome Robinson's legacy at Colorado State University and his pivotal role in the history of bull riding, click HERE.
Photos courtesy of Bull Stock Media