Tom R. Ferguson is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He was the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World All-Around Cowboy Champion for six consecutive years from 1974 to 1979 breaking the previous mark of five consecutive titles held by Larry Mahan. He was also the 1974 World Tie-Down Roping Champion and the World Steer Wrestling Champion in 1977 and 1978. In 1999, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR), organized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), is the premier championship rodeo event in the United States. The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in each event as they compete for the world title.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
Larry Mahan is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He won six World All-Around Championships and two Bull Riding World Championships in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 1979 in the all-around category. It also inducted him as a Legend of ProRodeo in 2010.
Richard Neale "Tuff" Hedeman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship three times, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world championship. He also won the 1993 world championship for the now-defunct Bull Riders Only (BRO) organization. He is also one of the co-founders of the PBR. Hedeman is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame, PBR Ring of Honor, Bull Riding Hall of Fame, and Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee. He is known for having been one of rodeo icons Lane Frost's closest friends. Hedeman and the infamous bucking bull Bodacious had a few historic clashes. He later served as the President of the PBR and then the President and Ambassador of Championship Bull Riding (CBR). In 2018, he formed his own bull riding organization: the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBRT).
Lewis Feild was an American professional rodeo cowboy. He specialized in bareback bronc riding and saddle bronc riding and competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. He was the World All-Around Cowboy Champion from 1985 to 1987 at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He was also the World Bareback Riding Champion from 1985 to 1986. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 1992 in the all-around category.
Billy Etbauer is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in saddle bronc riding. He competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit along with his two brothers, Robert and Dan. He won the PRCA saddle bronc riding world championship five times.
The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships.
Myrtis Dightman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee. Known as the "Jackie Robinson of Rodeo", Dightman was the first African-American to compete at the National Finals Rodeo.
Daniel Earl Mortensen is an American six-time World Saddle Bronc Champion, and a one-time World All-Around Cowboy Champion. He competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) where he won those championships at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 2009.
Dan Collins Taylor was an American cowboy, rodeo performer, and promoter. In 2006, Taylor was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Taylor died on November 3, 2010, in Doole, Texas.
Roy Dale Cooper is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) events for more than two decades. He won the All-Around Cowboy world championship in 1983 and claimed seven individual discipline championships, including six tie-down roping titles. Cooper won the PRCA's Rookie of the Year award in 1976, and was nicknamed "Super Looper" for his roping ability. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted Cooper in its Tie-Down Roping category in 1979.
Trevor Brazile is an American rodeo champion who competes in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He holds the record for the most PRCA world champion titles with 26. Brazile won his 26th title in 2020. Brazile also holds the record for the most World All-Around Cowboy Champion titles at 14, breaking the record of 7 titles held by Ty Murray, Murray's last earned was in 1998.
Rich Skelton is an American former professional rodeo team roping world champion and a 2018 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee. He is an eight-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Team Roping Champion, and is regarded as one of the most consistent team ropers of all time.
Fred Whitfield is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in tie-down roping. He won eight Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world championships and three National Finals Rodeo (NFR) aggregate titles. Seven of those titles were World Tie-Down Roping Championships and one was the World All-Around Cowboy Championship. He is one of a very few black professional cowboys and by far the most successful. Whitfield was elected to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2004.
Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in 1971, he won the World All-Around Cowboy Championship and the World Tie-down Roping Championship. At the NFR in 1972, he repeated as the World All-Around Cowboy champion and added a second World Tie-down Roping Championship. Lyne won his first and only World Steer Roping Championship at the NFR in 1990. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Guy Allen is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame cowboy and an 18-time Steer Roping World Champion. He competes in rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He won the world title for the steer roping event 18 times when competing at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) and also won the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) Average title five times. He had won the title 11 times in a row when Buster Record broke his streak. Allen is also inducted into seven rodeo halls of fame.
Mary Walker, is a world champion barrel racer. She won the World Barrel Racing Championship in 2012. Despite several traumatic events in the two preceding years, she persevered. She also became the oldest woman, at 53, in rodeo to win a world championship in the barrel racing event at the National Finals Rodeo. She was later surpassed by Mary Burger in 2016 when Burger won at age 68. She lost her only child to a car accident in 2011. Two months later, Latte, her horse, fell on her during competition and severely injured her. It was about a year and a half after these incidents that she won her world title. Walker was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2013.
Wanda Harper Bush was an American barrel racer who was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 1978 and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017. The August 2017 induction ceremony was ProRodeo's 38th annual event, and marked the first time in the event's history that the class of inductees included barrel racers from the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). Bush competed in the Girl's Rodeo Association (GRA), now known as the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) and won two World Barrel Racing Championships, in 1952 and 1953.
Jimmie Gibbs Munroe is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame barrel racer inductee for 2019. Munroe is also the granddaughter of Zack Miller of the renowned Miller Brothers 101 Wild West Show. In addition, she also served in many positions on the Women's Professional Rodeo Association and helped advanced many causes for women competitors.
