ProRodeo Sports News - May 12, 2023

MEMORIAM ... LARRY MAHAN 1943-2023

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spent some time with him,” Murray said. “I would hold on to his hand and he would squeeze my hand. He knew I was there. It’s a tough deal because he has been a really important part of my life. He was my hero. He set records that I wanted to make as benchmarks for myself to try and see what I could accomplish. He took me under his wing. He showed me the world is a lot bigger than just the rodeo arena.” Bobby Steiner, the 1973 PRCA Bull Riding World Champion, also spent time with Mahan. “I flew up to his place and got to see him and Sid (Steiner) and Rocker (Steiner) got to see him,” Bobby said. “I have been a close friend to Larry, and he is my hero. We rodeoed at the same time. He is eight years older than me, but he was in his heyday when I was doing my thing. He is the biggest thing that ever hit rodeo – ever. Not only was he great but he also was the kind of guy who was on the Tonight Show and all kinds of stuff. He was known by the world and he’s the biggest rodeo cowboy that has ever been.” Murray believes what made Mahan so special is his passion. “I think it was love,” Murray said. “When you have a passion for something and love it so much then that generally makes it easier to get good at it, because it is something that you love and crave, and you think about it all the time without trying to. I know that was him. The challenge of riding bucking animals is something he loved. He was built right for it. He was a competitor. You have to be lucky as well to be able to be like a Michael Jordan of the sport. If Michael Jordan was born 5-foot-2, things would have been really different. “I think he (Larry) had the right body type. I think he had the right mind for it. I think he had a powerful mind and I think it takes a powerful mind to be able to compartmentalize things and be able to stay in a space where you’re focused and fluid in a car crash-type, scary environment. That takes a person with a pretty good command over their thoughts and emotions.” Steiner offered this assessment of what made Mahan unique. “Seriously, he was different,” Steiner said. “He had a spark in his eye, and he had the greatest smile. Everybody around rodeo knew he was the big thing. He carried himself different. You have heard about the ‘It Factor,’ and he had the ‘It Factor.’ When he pulled up, the secretaries loved him, the stock contractors loved him, the judges loved him, the people loading the stock loved him. It didn’t make any difference because he had the gleam in his eye because he was Larry Mahan.” Steiner went on to say, “In my lifetime, I have seen things happen in different deals. There will never be another Elvis Presley. I’m not saying Mahan was on that level as far as worldwide, but he was that in rodeo. He was the Elvis that has never been resurrected. He flew in his own airplane. He spoke to everybody. The aura that was with him when he first cracked out was huge. I had never seen anything like it. He was good to me, and he was good to everybody. He was just a winner. He was very classy. He looked great on everything he got on. He had a distinct style.” In the world of rodeo, there will likely never be another Larry Mahan according to Murray. “I don’t think so,” Murray said. “He was a special individual, he sure was to me. I was thinking about it this morning, him and I have been friends for 41 years. He was good to me from the time I was 13. I think he helped rodeo. The reason I went on Dancing With the Stars was because of Mahan. That all came from him. He’s the one that taught me not to be shy about that stuff and that’s how you reach a bigger audience. I know that the influence Larry had on me made it to where I was able to earn more outside the arena than I was in the arena, through sponsorships and different partnerships with big companies. I feel like if I had not known Larry and the influence that he had on me, that could have been very different.”

Ferrell Butler and PRCA ProRodeo file photos Above, Larry Mahan rides Swanny Kerby’s Brayford during the 1972 National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, Okla. Below, Larry Mahan, left, took ProRodeo Hall of Famer Ty Murray under his wing when Murray was only 13 years old.

ProRodeo Sports News 5/12/2023

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