ProRodeo Sports News - April 6, 2018

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ...

Finals Rodeo ended his NFL career, but he wasn’t one to sit on the bench of life. “I don’t have many awards in rodeo since I didn’t do it full time,” Garrison said. Although rodeo wasn’t his full-time job, he managed to compete across the country, from Salinas, Calif., to Cheyenne, Wyo., down into NewMexico, southern Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

“It was a recreational thing for me and I loved it,” Garrison said. “I enjoyed the people and the excitement, there’s nothing like backing up in the box. It’s like when you call a play in football, they score them (the steers) 30 feet and are running like hell, and it makes your heart beat faster.” GIVING BACK Shortly after his NFL career, Garrison began raising money for multiple sclerosis with the Walt Garrison Invitational Rodeos, later renamed the Walt Garrison All Star Rodeo. ProRodeo Hall of Famer Neal Gay produced most of the fundraiser rodeos that started in Mesquite, Texas, before moving to Dallas when the crowds got too big. The first one in Dallas raised $15,000, and by 1993 the event grew substantially, raising $619,000 in a single year. Garrison’s rodeos featured celebrity team roping competitions, including Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman and Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White and “Gunsmoke” star Buck Taylor. “I didn’t know they could all rope,” Garrison said. “Afterward, they’d set up for autographs and didn’t charge us anything to come.” Having big names on the roster helped boost the cause, but not all of them were big stars – yet. Garrison roped with George Strait before Strait’s music career got big, and Garrison suggested having Strait perform at one of the rodeos. “We had a lot of great stars, and George was one I wanted,” said Garrison, noting that Strait only charged $5,000 to perform at the time. “He just had one song at the time, and I said I wanted him, and they said, ‘who the hell is George Strait?’ This is a fundraiser and I’d rather have George here, and he put on a hell of a show.” Strait pitched in for several years, having team roped alongside Garrison. “George and I won at a celebrity team roping in Mesquite, and you’d have thought we won the world talking to George,” Garrison said. “If you didn’t know who he was, he’s not like some of those movie stars when they walk in the restaurant they say, ‘I’m here, look at me.’ He never said anything, but he was a star and a great guy, but he never advertised himself.” At the 1993 fundraiser rodeo, actor Adam Taylor headed for Tuff Hedeman in the celebrity team roping while former Dallas Cowboy Jay Novacek and former Houston Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini duked it out with Chuck Norris in team penning. By 1994, Garrison was planning the final fundraiser rodeo. He wanted to bring it back to its roots. “He (George Strait) was $80,000 by then, and I told him it’s my last rodeo and you played in one of the first ones,” Garrison said. “He asked, ‘What did I charge the first time?’ I said about $12,000 and he said that would work.” Between Garrison’s first and last fundraiser rodeo, celebrities such as Alan Jackson, The Judds, Reba McEntire, Merle Haggard and Travis Tritt made appearances. “You’d be surprised how many you can get if you pay them,” Garrison laughed. “You have to spend money to make money.” His method certainly worked, to the tune of about $4 million, which benefited the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the MS Society’s North Texas Chapter. “I was involved for 20 years because it did a lot of good for a lot of people,” Garrison said. Now retired from his 30-year career with U.S. Tobacco, Garrison is enjoying retirement on his ranch near Argyle, Texas, while “Walt Garrison” barbecue sauces, steak rubs and salsa continue to sell. “I do whatever the hell I want to,” Garrison laughed. “But I whittle things and carve wood for charities. I’ve been whittling for a long time.”

Photo courtesy Walt Garrison

NFL HIGHLIGHTS • Dallas Cowboys fullback (1966-74) • Career-highs: 818 yds rushing (1969), 396 yds receiving (1971); 7 rushing TDs (1972), 3 receiving TDs (1972) • Played in 1970 NFC Championship Game with a cracked collar bone and an ankle injury • Pro Bowl selection 1973

• PRCA competitor in the 1970s and ’80s • Placed fifth at the 1974 Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days steer wrestling • Emcee for the 2005 ProRodeo Hall of Fame induction ceremony • Hosted the Walt Garrison All Star Rodeo for about 20 years, which raised about $4 million for multiple sclerosis foundations

• Super Bowl VI champion (1971) • Dallas Cowboys 25th Anniversary Team RODEO HIGHLIGHTS • Competed in steer wrestling, bareback riding, calf roping, bull riding in high school, then switched to only steer wrestling when he surpassed 180 lbs. • Competed in team roping later in life

ProRodeo Sports News 4/6/18

ProRodeo.com

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