ProRodeo Sports News - March 17, 2023

Young entered his first rodeo in 1948, and first joined what was the RCA back then in 1954. He got his start in rodeo from his father Paul Young and ProRodeo Hall of Fame tie-down roper Troy Fort “What I like best about rodeoing is it is a way to make a living and enjoy it,” Young said in a rodeo questionnaire by the RCA. The sandy-haired 6-footer was without a doubt one of the best to ever go down the rodeo trail. He was universally accepted as one of the finest horsemen in ProRodeo, learning from his father Paul and many other championship ropers. Young served on the then Rodeo Cowboys Association Board of Directors for four years until 1971. Young’s enormous talent was evident when he was inducted into the 1979 inaugural class of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. ProRodeo Hall of Fame team roper Dale Smith, who

speedster, but he would always do what could be done on whatever steer he got. If he got a bad steer, he would go tie it down. If he got a good steer, he would go tie it down. He would do it all the same way, never change up. He would always do his job. When he nodded his head, he was a thinking roper. He thought all during the run. He wasn’t wide open. He was consistent on every run.” Fisher also took a moment to talk about Young’s horsemanship. “He always made a horse look as good as the horse could look,” Fisher said. “If you bought a horse from Olin, you probably weren’t going to make him look better. Olin made horses look as good as they could look, calf horses especially. He also was a real gentleman. I never knew anybody who didn’t like him. He was really nice to everybody.”

served as president of the Rodeo Cowboys Association from 1962-69 and in 1971-72, then again from 1976-81 after it became the PRCA, praised Young in an old article in the ProRodeo Sports News . Smith was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame with the inaugural class in 1979 with Young. “Olin has been, and always will be, a credit to our sport,” Smith said in a 1971 article in the ProRodeo Sports News. “Fine cowboy and real gentlemen, he’s done more than his share in guiding our business, but I’m going to miss him anyway around the conference table.” Pake McEntire, who roped against Young back in the day, shared plenty of fond memories of the ProRodeo Hall of Famer. McEntire qualified for the NFSR in 1974 and 1982. “There was a steer roping in Post, Texas, in 1972, that my dad (Clark) had won the previous year they had it,” Pake said. “I went in second in the short-go and Olin went in first, which was customary because he was hot as a pistol. There was an over 25-foot score and the cattle weighed 780. I was nervous as I could be. “I accidentally tied three down and went in seeded second. I knew it was customary my dad taught me to save entry fees. I went up to Olin before we ran our last steer, and I thought I asked him if he wanted to save entry fees and he said yes. I was more likely to go out than him because I wasn’t even supposed to be there, but he said yes. I accidently roped mine and he accidently missed his. “I sent him a check for $350 and the next week we were in San Angelo (Texas) at the Roping Fiesta, and he brought me my check back and said, ‘This wasn’t the deal.’ If he would have said $1,000, I would have wrote him a check and he said, ‘Do you want to save $100. You see the integrity. He could have just cashed that check and he didn’t. If there were people like (ProRodeo Hall of Famer steer roper) Sonny Davis and Olin Young, there would be no penitentiaries, no jails, no police forces. If you didn’t like Olin Young, then you didn’t like Santa Claus. He was very humble, and he was always prepared, and he always had a good horse.” Dan Fisher, who hails from Andrews, Texas, and is a 16 time qualifier for the NFSR – 1986-90, 1994, 1996-97, 2000, 2003-04, 2008-10, 2012-13 – knows Young’s name well. “He’s as big as it gets in rodeo,” Fisher said. “I knew Olin ever since I was a little kid and he and my dad were friends,” Fisher said. “I also knew him in my early years as a PRCA contestant. He did (calf roping and steer roping) equally well. He was a real consistent roper. He wasn’t what you would call a

Ferrell Butler photo Back in 1971, Olin Young won his first Rodeo Cowboys Association Steer Roping World Championship. Young won his final steer roping world title in 1974.

ProRodeo Sports News 3/17/2023

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