ProRodeo Sports News - July 27, 2018

PRORODEO HALL OF FAME

Leon Coffee

Barrelman energized crowds for decades

BY MATT NABER P RCA Gold Card Member Leon Coffee is one of only three cowboys to be both a barrelman and a bullfighter at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Now he’s feeling more energized than ever as part of the 2018 class of inductees to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. “I thrived on people laughing or enjoying something, and that energized me into doing more and more,” Coffee said. “I got addicted to seeing someone laugh, and I fed on that. My adrenaline was because of their laughter and their laughter was frommy adrenaline to make them laugh.” Coffee knew all the events firsthand, having

competed in junior rodeo as a bull rider, bareback rider, steer wrestler and calf roper. He joined the U.S. Army after high school and served for three years. “I haven’t gotten my head wrapped around it,” Coffee said months after

Leon Coffee, seen here in Greeley, Colo., in 1991, is headed to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame after a lifetime of rodeo experience as a barrelman and a bullfighter.

Coffee

finding out he was inducted. “To be in there with that many greats and to know I am in that herd is amazing to me.” Coffee transitioned into bullfighting under the

Dan Hubbell photo

encouragement of his friend and bullfighter Michael Moore. His signature act of dancing in front of an angry bull earned him the nicknames “Disco Bullfighter” and “Boogie Man.” “I enjoy putting smiles on faces, and my motto of life is God put me on Earth to do two things – make people happy and help people out, and I can do both in the arena,” Coffee said. Since 1973, the Texas cowboy fought bulls at the NFR twice (1979, 1984) and was a barrelman at the NFR in 1991, 1994 and 1997. Coffee won PRCA Clown of the Year in 1983 and was in the top three every year from 1984-2001. Coffee also worked at the first National Circuit Finals Rodeo in 1987, the Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo (1980-82, 1992, 1996-97, 2003-04) and the Canadian Finals Rodeo twice (1985-86). “It’s something I never set out to do,” Coffee said about being inducted. “I set out to work a few years and then do something else, but it got to be an addiction and I was liking what I was doing. It (getting inducted) is just

something you can’t fathom when you start, and when you actually get there it’s something you still can’t fathom because it is just unreal to be able to do that.” Coffee recalled something ProRodeo Hall of Famer Larry Mahan once told him. “‘I wouldn’t take a million dollars for what I’ve done, but I wouldn’t give you a dollar to do it all over again,’” Coffee said, quoting Mahan. “I didn’t think I’d live long enough to see this. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, I guess God let me live long enough to do it.” Coffee has worked on the movie sets of 8 Seconds , My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys and Jericho . He visits children’s hospitals and runs a small ranch in his off time. “To be perfectly honest, all I did was enjoy what I was doing,” Coffee said. “If you enjoy what you’re doing you’ll never work.”

ProRodeo Sports News 7/27/2018

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