ProRodeo Sports News - Feb. 18, 2022

PRORODEO HISTORY

Green, Lyne, Garten only cowboys to compete in NFR bull riding and NFSR Exclusive Club DeVere Helfrich photo Joe Green, a six-time NFR bull rider, competes in Burwell, Neb. Green made history when he made the National Finals Steer Roping in 1965.

BY TRACY RENCK C owboys qualifying for multiple events at the

Cowboys Association, in 1953. Green competed in just bull riding in his early

ProRodeo days and qualified for the first six National Finals Rodeos from 1959-64. He finished fourth in the world standings in 1959 and 1963. “Try, try, try,” Green said about the key to his success in bull riding in his ProRodeo bio in Nov. 7, 1960. After finishing 14th in the bull riding standings in 1964, Green qualified for the NFSR in 1965, placing 16th.

National Finals Rodeo is not uncommon.

At the 2020 and 2021 NFRs, StetsonWright qualified for saddle bronc riding and bull riding and left as a world champion in bull riding in 2020 and saddle bronc riding a year ago. Cowboys competing at the NFR in bull riding and qualifying for the National Finals Steer Roping is a much more exclusive group. The club consists of Joe Green, ProRodeo Hall of Famer Phil Lyne, and Shorty Garten.

After his ProRodeo days were done, Green kept roping and won the Super Senior Steer Roping finals at the Lazy E. Arena in Guthrie, Okla., in 1997. Lyne, who is 11 years younger than Green, did remember the Oklahoma cowboy competing. “Joe started tripping (steer roping) in his later years and he was very talented as a bull rider and steer roper,” Lyne said. “I got along good with Joe, and he was a good guy.”

JOE GREEN MAKES PRORODEO HISTORY Green passed away, Feb. 12, 2007, at the age of 70. Green, a lifelong resident of Sulphur, Okla., joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association, a precursor to the Professional Rodeo

Green

ProRodeo Sports News 2/18/2022

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