ProRodeo Sports News - June 23, 2023

NOTABLE

PRCA ProRodeo file photo

Tom Feller Years of rodeo commitment inside and out of arena BY TRACY RENCK

He was also chosen as the PRCA Clown of the Year in 1981 and 1987. For years, Tom worked as a bullfighter with his brother Jim Bob Feller. Tom also wrote a column for the ProRodeo Sports News back in the day. “I was blessed throughout my career,” Tom told the ProRodeo Sports News. “I was blessed to have worked with the best bullfighters, announcers and specialty acts going; while working for the best stock contractors, and committee representatives.” Tom was born Sept. 10, 1948, in Waco, Texas. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. After his rodeo career, Feller served as the director of event marketing for Justin Brands for more than two decades. Feller, who “rodeoed before sports medicine,” said the Justin SportsMedicine team can’t prevent a cowboy from getting hurt, but they can educate them about how to prevent injuries and can get them back in the saddle again. Way too many times to count, Feller has given back to the ProRodeo industry through JustinSports Medicine and the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and now the sport is giving back to him with this Hall of Fame recognition. “Wow,” Feller said about the ultimate honor that will be bestowed upon him.

T om Feller’s passion and decades of commitment and loyalty to ProRodeo will be immortalized on July 15, when he is inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as a notable. “This is mind-boggling,” Feller said. “This is not anything I would have ever really thought about. I think the only thing that stands out is the people in the business. There is not a moment in time or anything like that. You get some honors along the way, but the people who are in the industry are lifelong friends and people who you can count on, that’s the most important part of it to me.” Feller is a cowboy through and through. His loyalty to the sport of rodeo and his commitment to ProRodeo programs such as the Justin Sportsmedicine team, the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and Chairman of the PRCA Board of Directors gained him entrance into the Hall. When Feller obtained his PRCA card in 1974, his highest aspiration was maybe being the clown in the National Finals Rodeo someday. He realized that dream when he was chosen as a barrelman at the National Finals Rodeo in 1981 and was an alternate in 1976, 1982, and 1985.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/23/2023

ProRodeo.com

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