Rocker Steiner announces he’s out for remainder of 2026 season
Defending PRCA Bareback Riding World Champion Rocker Steiner took to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon to announce his plans for the remainder of the 2026 PRORODEO season.
Steiner underwent neck surgery on June 4 and was expected to miss approximately three months of action.
In a video to fans on Wednesday, he announced that he’s taking off the rest of the 2026 season to focus on making a fully healthy return to PRORODEO during the 2027 season.
“I was planning on coming back in mid-August some time and getting to a bunch of rodeos and putting myself into a world title position,” Steiner said in the video. “But my doctor, Dr. (Andrew) Dossett, said that’d be the stupidest thing I could do because the chances of me reinjuring my neck and having another surgery would be very high. And then after that me riding again would probably be a very low possibility.”
Steiner underwent surgery and treatment with Dr. Dossett, an orthopedic surgeon based in Dallas. who specialize in back, neck, spine and sports medicine at Carrell Clinic.
Nine-time PRCA World Champion and close friend of the Steiner family, Ty Murray, said Rocker called him while deciding how to manage a potential comeback. Murray advised Steiner to follow the doctor’s order, especially with a neck injury.
“I said, ‘Rocker, when it’s your spine and your head, you don’t tough it out,'” Murray said. “When you’re a cowboy, there are lots of things you’ve got to tough out, and you’ve got to learn and be smart enough to know the difference between when you can tough something out and when you’re just kidding yourself. It’s dangerous the way it is, but whenever you have a spine injury or a head injury, that’s when you need to follow the protocols that the doctors give you.”
Murray dealt with his own injuries through his storied career that included seven PRCA All-Around World Championships,and two PRCA Bull Riding World Championships.
“I told him, ‘I missed three years right in the prime of my career with injuries,'” Murray said. “But that’s how this sport can be. We know (Rocker is) tough enough. That’s not the question. You don’t just have to be tough. You’ve got to be smart too. When your body is the apparatus that you make a living with (you take care of it). If you make a living with your truck, you’ve got to take care of your truck. That’s kind of where he’s at. And I’m just glad he agreed to take the rest of the year off because whenever you’re missing time with your spine, you do not mess around with that.”
When he got surgery, Steiner sat atop the PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings. The 22-year-old phenom and four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier opened the season on a tear winning RodeoHouston and Rodeo Corpus Christi and pulling in $122,142, while competing in just eight rodeos.
As of Sept. 16, Steiner had fallen to 15th and held just over a $3,000 lead over No. 16 Mason Stuller with two weeks remaining in the PRORODEO regular season which ends on Sept. 30.
“The best thing for me, my family, my sponsors and my fans is for me to get 100%, come back next year and do some ass kicking,” Steiner said. “I know that I can’t do that if I can’t ride anymore. It’s a pretty sad conversation to have but I’ve been thinking a lot and I think the best thing for me is to hold off.”
This will mark the first season of Steiner’s career in which he won’t compete at the NFR.
“This is hard because I’ve never had to watch the NFR before,” Steiner said. “I had a ticket behind the bucking chutes every year since I was 18. Anyway, thank you guys for sticking with me and I’ll be back soon.”
-PRCA
