ProRodeo Sports News - August 2, 2019

BULL RIDER Doug ‘Droopy’ Brown World champ was 13-time NFR qualifier BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI

F ifty years after winning the 1969 Bull Riding World Championship, Doug “Droopy” Brown is headed to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. The 73-year-old from Silverton, Ore., won the world title with $27,610. It was one of his 13 NFR qualifications – five in bull riding and eight in saddle bronc riding (though one year he did not compete due to injury). “I’m a little overwhelmed because there are legends

in there,” Brown said. “I think I was a good cowboy, but I was never a legend, so I’m very pleased.” The timing of the honor caught Brown off guard. “It’s been 50 years,” he said. “It’s a huge surprise.” When Brown got the call from the Hall of Fame he was at an optometrist’s appointment. “It was more of a shock than surprise,” he said. “... It’s something that you really hope for, that you wish for.” The honor is something Brown took to heart. “I’m so thankful that they realized that I went in on my 50th anniversary,” he said. “The world championship and my kids and now this. I think it ranks right up there with the best moments in my life.”

QUICK FACTS • Born: March 8, 1946 • World title: Bull riding, 1969 • NFR qualifica- tions: Bull riding 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1979; Saddle bronc riding 1968, 1969, 1970*, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1979. * Qualified for the NFR in sad- dle bronc riding but was unable to compete.

Ferrell Butler photo

“Back when I was going, there were a few others that did it,” Brown said. “We worked several events because we needed to make ends meet. If you could ride a little bit, it was a good investment to enter another event. Nowadays it’s not as common because it’s become so specialized.” Being immortalized among some of the cowboys he rodeoed with is something Brown is still adjusting to. “There are true legends that I grew up with – (Larry) Mahan, and I watched (Freckles) Brown, and I watched (Jim) Shoulders, and I watched Harry Tompkins,” he said, all those cowboys ProRodeo Hall of Famers. “Those guys were my heroes, and that’s why I wanted to work more than one event.” Being alongside those cowboys means Brown wasn’t the only one who knew he was on the road with them. “I guess it means that the 20-some years I put in on the road rodeoing did make a difference in other people’s lives and in my life,” Brown said. “I’m glad other people noticed.”

The year of Brown’s title he entered the National Finals Rodeo in first place. In addition to qualifying for the Finals in bull riding and saddle bronc riding the year he won the bull riding world title, he made the Finals in both in 1968, 1971, 1973 and 1979.

He also qualified for the Finals in saddle bronc riding in 1970, 1975 and 1976. His highest finish in saddle bronc riding came in 1975 when he placed third with $21,141. In bull riding he finished 15th in the world in 1971, fourth in 1973 and fifth in 1979. Brown downplayed competing in multiple roughstock events.

ProRodeo Sports News 8/2/2019

ProRodeo.com

35