PRORODEO Sports News - Sept. 9, 2026

LYNE WAS A HUMBLE LEGEND As talented Lyne was what set him apart was how humble he was about his accomplishments. “Phil was just a cowboy. I mean, nothing ever went to his head at all. He was a hunter and a cowboy, and that’s what he was every day,” Steiner said. “There are not many people who you can say that about, but he was just a talented guy who in his mind was just a basic cowboy. He would talk to you and stuff, but he never was about, ‘Man, I did this,’ or, ‘I did that.’ You’d never know (about his accom plishments).” Murray also appreciated Lyne’s demeanor. “He was such a gentleman. He al ways gave me a lot of praise and every time I would see him, I got my picture taken with him. Every time,” Murray said. “To me, he just seemed like a world-class human being. He was not a flamboyant guy. He was not a guy who was seeking attention. Larry (Mahan) was a lot more flamboyant and a lot more out there with the me dia. And I think Phil always just kind of shied away from that. I think Phil mainly just liked doing cowboy stuff. “I just thought he was always such a classy guy every time I was around him. It also felt like he and I totally understood each other.” Green summed up his grandfather’s legacy perfectly. “You almost had to pry the rodeo talk out of him. He really didn’t talk about it very much,” Green said. “He’d rather talk about coyote hunt ing or something like his cow dogs.

“We were traveling together and we were winning first and second,” Allen said. “I was ahead of him going into the (NFSR), and then we roped there. He was still in the average, and I’d went out of the average. It’s kind of a funny story, really. His wife, Sarah Kay, came up to me and said, ‘God let him win.’ I said, ‘Sarah Kay, I’m not going to let him win.’ I broke the barrier and probably could’ve won, but it wasn’t on purpose. I’ll promise you that.” Tanner Green, Lyne’s grandson, and PRCA tie-down roper and team roper, relished the time he spent with his legendary grandfather. “As a kid, I - it was very hard to learn from him because he was very natural at everything. So as a kid, it was pretty hard because he really

didn’t break stuff down,” Green said. “But now that I’m older, I see what he was doing and I understand it better. He’s the reason I am the way I am, and I will never do what he did in the rodeo world, but he taught me how to be humble and not let the highs get too high and the lows get too low. “He was the reason I did it, and he’s the only reason I could go. He taught me everything. I lived with him for all my life, 28 years, and he taught me everything. He was a dad to me, is what he was. He was my dad.” Legendary country music singer George Strait posted the following about Lyne. “Phil Lyne, we’ll never forget you. All of our prayers are with you and your family. May God bless them. You

left your mark on South Texas and of course all of the rodeo world. A true cowboy in every sense of the word. I’m proud that I

got to call you my friend. I’ll see you down the road someday amigo.”

Lyne with his horse in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1971. PRCA file photo

10 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE September 9, 2026