2020 Media Guide - Announcers

2019 Wrangler NFR Announcers

Randy Corley Randy Corley was delighted to go to Las Vegas for the 2019 Wrangler NFR, his 19th time to announce the season’s culminating event in the Thomas &Mack Center. Corley, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017, has been named PRCA Announcer of the Year 12 times – more than anyone else – between 1984 and 2005, then again in 2011 and 2015. He works rodeos from tiny Hill City, Kan., to giant San Antonio. He has announced in Caldwell, Idaho, every year since 1982 and at Puyallup and Kitsap County, Wash., since 1983. In 2005, he and Amanda became the first father-daughter tandem to work the NFR – as announcer and timer. Originally a bareback riding and bull riding contestant, Corley startedmaking radio commercials, then went to broadcasting school with the idea of becoming a rodeo announcer. Former long-time PRCA

announcer Hadley Barrett heard him in North Platte, Neb., and invited him to apply for his first card with the PRCA, which he did in 1980. Randy and his wife, Michelle – the daughter of his mentor, Barrett, who passed away in 2017 – live in Silverdale, Wash., and enjoy spending time going to and from rodeos they are working and visiting their adult children: Amanda, Kassi, Cole and Brittney. Lately, says Corley, the Bible has become his favorite book to read.“I’ve learned that I can talk to God any time of day, and I don’t even need a microphone.” Wayne Brooks Veteran PRCA announcer Wayne Brooks has worked the Wrangler NFR nine times in 19 years, but he says it’s a similar experience each time.

“It’s exciting, it’s nerve-wracking, it’s exhausting,” he said. “It’s everything you expect at an event of that magnitude, with that number of people in the audience, that caliber of contestants, and that much money involved. That’s a pretty stout recipe there, whether it’s your first time or your 20th.”And yes, even veteran announcers like Brooks, have to put in some extra preparation for the Wrangler NFR.“The three of us start getting on the phone a month ahead of time, swapping livestock and cowboy information,”he recalled.“We talk about where we’re going to go with certainmatch-ups. One of us might talk about howmany gold buckles a certain cowboy has, the next guy might talk about his earnings

history, the next might mention that he’s a nice guy with a great family. “That’s one of the most Western crowds that we’re in front of, all year,”he noted.“You really work to not be wrong about any information. It’s not just a thrill – it’s the crown jewel of our industry.” Andy Stewart

Andy Stewart has done his share of announcing since joining the PRCA in 1996. But nothing compared to making his debut at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2019. “It was an amazing experience,” said Stewart, 49. “The first five performances were a blur, being very busy and getting into the routine. It was everything that I hoped for. My colleagues Randy (Corley) and Wayne (Brooks) were super helpful. They let me know how the machine operated and I had the time of my life.”Stewart, who has been nominated for PRCA Announcer of theYear multiple times, didn’t battle nerves before Round 1 at theThomas &Mack Center. “I can honestly say I was not nervous, but I was very anxious, if that makes sense,” he said. “I was ready to talk on that microphone in the Thomas & Mack. What I enjoyed the most was working with so many other professionals, and I’m not talking about just the announcers. It was an amazing experience to be

around so may professionals. It was very impressive.”Prior to getting to work theWrangler NFR, Stewart’s biggest assignment was announcing at the 2006 RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho. “Everybody who is in this business, whether you’re a competitor, performer or contract personnel, everybody wants to get to the NFR, that’s the ultimate goal,” he said. “That was my goal, to get there, and it was very humbling to know that I was thought enough of and have the ability to handle the responsibility that goes along with the National Finals Rodeo. Everybody wants to be there, and it is a gamechanger, it really is.” Stewart lives in Collinston, La. He and his wife Shelley have a son Kash, 26, and daughter Shaye, 24. Stewart said he would love nothing more to get to announce another Wrangler NFR. “To feel that electricity in that building, it’s like a drug,” he said. “I get it now why the cowboys want to get there. I know it is about the money and the world titles, but to be in that building and feel that electricity is like none other. It’s phenomenal.”

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ANNOUNCERS