Jack Ben Rabbit

The contest is documented by the Texas Legislature. A 2001 resolution says the American Legion introduced a jackrabbit-roping contest at its annual Memorial Day Rodeo in Odessa in 1932, and declared Odessa the Jackrabbit-Roping Capital of Texas. It describes a 10-foot jackrabbit statue at the school administration building, a different height from the city's 8 feet. Roadside America says the Humane Society ended the contest in 1978, though the same resolution says the contest was revived for one year in 1977.

The city says the world's largest jackrabbit statue is a 14.5-foot wooden sculpture in Ralls, Texas. In June 2025 the city announced a plan for a 50-foot statue on a 10-foot stone base; the mayor had wanted a 100-foot statue. The city named two possible sites, 5th and Grant or 4th and Texas, and described a public-private partnership. First Alert 7 reported a target of April 2027, in time for Odessa's centennial, and listed projected costs of $5.2 million at 5th and Grant and $4.8 million at 4th and Texas in its section on a proposed new visitor center. The city called the image an early concept that may change.