John Purse

Retired: He retired from active in Senior Pro competition in 2007. He currently races in Veteran Pro class.

When I first turned, (pro) I would just defend myself against others and ride aggressively in return, but I learned that you'll just get disqualified, you'll look bad, and it's just going to cause problems. So I just played their game. If they messed with me on the track, I let it go and just get them next time. So I learned just to chill out.----Ride BMX December 1993

Nicknamed "The Vigilante" early in his pro career for his alleged dirty riding and fouling competitors and later and most famously "The Jackal" in the mid-1990s because of his "mad dog" riding style and for his not backing off and his fighting back.

Turned Professional: January 1990 at age 17. He forged his mother's signature on the Pro License applications to the ABA and NBL. His mother got wind of it a couple of months later (Purse had been doing quite well as a pro in the interim, including winning his first pro race. See "First Professional race result" below) and complained to both sanctions. She ordered that John to be suspended and prevented from racing pro since he did so without her permission. He found out when he went to sign up to race the NBL Memphis Indoor Classic in Memphis, Tennessee in March 1990. He had to sit out both days of racing. He got his pro papers in order in time to race the ABA Supernationals in El Paso, Texas. He won this last "A" pro race on Sunday (Day 2) April 1, 1990 and was moved up to "AA" pro.

First Professional race result: First place in "A" pro at the ABA Lone Star Nationals San Antonio, Texas on January 27, 1990. He won US$525, the equivalent of US$826.26 in 2007 (Cost of Living Calculator)

First Senior Pro** race result: Seventh place in "AA" pro at the ABA Mid-America Nationals in Blue Springs, Missouri on May 12, 1990 (Day 1).

Height & weight at height of his career (1990–2000): Ht:6'0" Wt:~185 lbs.

"....JOHN PURSE would no doubt win an award for quietest pro in the biz. Because he's so mellow, maybe no one considers him to be a big threat. Or maybe since he draws no attention to himself, he can sneak in for wins and top finishes. For whatever reason, Johnny has been jammin' all year. Pro Open was his target this weekend taking second to Veltman on Saturday and then winning it Sunday. And I don't think anyone noticed him. ----American BMXer August 1990 referring to the July 1, 1990 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Summernationals.

John Purse: The one that comes to mind first is Charles Townsend. He gave me my 2nd and 6th broken collarbone from BMX racing. I had an after the race moment with Charles in San Antonio in the early 1990s and yelled at most of the AA’s that were there, I threw my bike at Greg Hill at the Fall Nationals in 1990, a last turn fight with Eric Carter at the 1990 ABA Grands, a conversation with Gary Ellis at the 1995 ABA World Cup after he ran me off the track, and many others along the way. Actually Dale, me and you went round and round when I broke my thumb at ABA Reno in 2001. ----DaleHolmes.com 2002 interview

Home sanctioning body district(s): ABA Texas 3 (Tex-3) (1985); United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) Texas District 4 (TX-4) (1986)

Started racing: February 8, 1981 at eight years old at Armadillo Downs in Conroe, Texas.

John Eric Purse (born September 7, 1972 in Orlando, Florida, raised in Spring, Texas U.S.) is a former American professional "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer. His prime competitive years were from 1990-2000.