PRORODEO Sports News | Roy Cooper 1955-2025 | May 2, 2025

"All I can say is I got lucky," Cooper said. "It was an accident winning the steer roping (in 1983). I ain't sup posed to beat Guy Allen. He's the greatest in the world. He and Trevor Brazile are the greatest steer ropers that ever walked. You ain't supposed to beat them." Cooper's trifecta of world champion ships put him in rare air. Only nine other cowboys have been able to win triple crown honors in PRORODEO history - Clay Carr, Leonard Ward, Everett Bowman, Louis Brooks, Bill Linderman, Casey Tibbs, Harry Tompkins, Jim Shoulders and Brazile. "That was very special and a hard act to follow," Cooper said. Cooper is only one of seven cowboys to qualify for the Finals in three events. He accomplished that feat in 1981 when he competed in tie-down roping, steer roping and team roping. "I couldn't tie a steer from the right side or left side and I couldn't find that bottom leg to string the bottom leg," Cooper said. "(PRORODEO Hall of Fame steer roper) Sonny Davis said, just string the top leg because you can't find the bottom one. I strung the top leg and nowadays everybody strings the top leg. I was the very first one to do that." Cooper had some incredible horse power during his illustrious career, including Topper, the PRCA | AQHA Horse of the Year in 2003 and 2005. "I bought Topper for $5,000 and it took me a year or two, but once he came around, baby he was unbeliev able," Cooper said. "I made a living off that horse. He fed my family. I won the NFR average on that horse when I was 40 and I won Calgary on that horse." After he was done competing in PRO RODEO, Cooper stayed close to the sport he loved. For the last 40-plus

years, Cooper hosted a junior world roping championship during the July 4 weekend. In 2022, the event drew in more than 500 competitors from 20 different states. Cooper was still hitting the road rou tinely, especially for trips to Calgary and Cheyenne, to see Tuf Cooper, his son, compete in tie-down roping events. And if he happens to run into some old rodeo buddies, or King George, that's an added bonus. "I've got the life man," Cooper said. Roy's sons - Tuf, Clint and Clif - are all NFR qualifiers in tie-down roping. They all qualified in the same year in 2010 and 2011. Tuf is a four-time PRCA World Champion (Tie-Down Roping, 2011-12, 2014; an All-Around, 2017). "One of my greatest memories is when Tuf, Clint and Clif all qualified for the

roping run in Oklahoma City, Coo per was greeted outside the arena by Strait's road manager. He asked Coo per if he'd like to meet Strait, which resulted in a resounding, 'Yes.' After being escorted through a mob of more than 100 people waiting near the tour bus, Cooper walked in to find Strait by himself. The rest, as they say, is history. "Me and him sat there and talked for two hours before he had to play. We just connected," Cooper said, noting the duo went all over the country together for events. "He's one of the best friends I could've ever had." Being buddies with a country music legend was one of many added perks in Cooper's gold-standard career,

NFR in the same year, that was the Triple Crown for me," Roy said. He also appreciat ed friend ships he developed along the way, espe cially the one with Strait. After finishing a tie-down

PRORODEO Hall of Famer Roy Cooper passed away April 29 in a fire at his home in Dacatur, Texas. PRCA photo by Jeffrey Blackman

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