ProRodeo Sports News - August 2, 2019

REMEMBERING ... LANE FROST Lasting Legacy

July 30 marks 30 years since the passing of Lane Frost BY TRACY RENCK T he date is etched in rodeo history – July 30, 1989. That is the day the rodeo world lost a legend in PRCAWorld Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost. Frost passed away as a result of injuries sustained when the bull he was riding struck him after a ride during the short round at the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo. Frost was 25. Frost won the 1987 PRCA world championship. He would have been 55 years old this year. “The thing that has surprised me the most is how his legacy has lived on,” said Frost’s mother, Elsie. “I just never dreamed after 30 years that anyone would even mention him or remember him, and of course, we have to give the movie 8 Seconds a little bit of credit for that. Our grandson (Stetson Frost) started a Lane Frost Brand that has really taken off and that has really

helped bring Lane’s name back around too. Of course, in some ways, it seems like yesterday (that it happened) and other ways it seems like quite some time ago. I know he would be so proud that people still remember him.” The late Luke Perry portrayed Frost in the movie 8 Seconds , which debuted Feb. 25, 1994. Although the movie wasn’t quite a true depiction of Frost’s real-life story, the movie played a key role in keeping Frost’s legacy alive. MAKING A NAME, BECOMING A LEGEND Frost’s family moved fromUtah to Lane, Okla., in 1978. “When we first moved to Oklahoma, Lane wasn’t well-known,” recalled Frost’s sister, Robin Muggli. “When we got to Oklahoma, I was

PRCA ProRodeo file photo Bull rider Lane Frost, one of the sport’s most captivating cowboys, was the 1987 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider.

a senior in high school, and he was a freshman. He pulled a much, much stronger rope than anybody I have ever known. One of the first rodeos we went to, we were at Duncan (Okla.) at the rodeo and Lane said, ‘You’re going to have to come pull my rope.’ Well, back then, it was very, very frowned on for girls to be behind the chute. I didn’t want to do it, but he said he couldn’t find anybody else who he trusted to do it. I went back behind the chute, which immediately made the stock contractor mad, and he was screaming at me. “I had pulled his rope many times, but on this bull, I could not get it tight enough. Somebody else jumped up there to pull the rope and they couldn’t pull the rope either. They had to get two, great-big guys who finally

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