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Roy Cooper (rodeo cowboy)

American rodeo cowboy (1955–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roy Cooper (rodeo cowboy)
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Roy Dale Cooper (November 13, 1955 – April 29, 2025) was an American professional rodeo cowboy who competed in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) events for more than two decades. He won the all-around 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.[1] The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted Cooper in its Tie-Down Roping category in 1979.

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Early life

Cooper was born on November 13, 1955 in Hobbs, New Mexico,[2] and raised on a ranch.[1][3] He suffered from asthma in his youth, and hair from horses caused him allergies.[3] However, he began to practice roping when he was three to five years old, depending on the source.[3][4] Cooper stopped being affected by asthma prior to attending high school,[1] and he competed in American Junior Rodeo Association events, winning an award as "outstanding individual in 25 years" in 1977.[3] Two years earlier, he had won the calf-roping title of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association; his father, Tuffy, won the organization's title in the discipline in 1950.[5] He went to Southeastern Oklahoma State University and was a journalism major.[4]

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Rodeo career

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In his rookie PRCA season, 1976, Cooper won the organization's tie-down roping championship and led the event in average earnings at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He broke the record for the most prize money won by a rookie cowboy, and earned the PRCA's Rookie of the Year award. In 1977, Cooper was the third-leading earner at the NFR's roping event.[3] At the 1978 Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, he led all cowboys in prize money won, and his calf-roping winnings were the largest recorded in any non-NFR event at the time.[6] After breaking one of his wrists the previous year,[7] Cooper won his second calf-roping season championship in 1980, and had a third-place NFR average earnings finish in the discipline.[8] The following year, he earned his second straight season calf-roping title. However, he narrowly lost out on the PRCA's all-around season championship to his cousin, Jimmie Cooper [Wikidata], who earned $47.60 more in prize money than he did during 1981.[9]

Cooper had almost $100,000 (equivalent to $350,000 in 2024) in earnings in 1981, and was approaching $400,000 (equivalent to $1,300,000 in 2024) in career earnings in 1982.[7] He won his third consecutive PRCA tie-down roping championship, and fourth overall, in 1982, rallying from a prize money deficit of nearly $15,000 at the season-ending NFR. A second-place finish in that event's tie-down roping competition was enough for him to pass Jerry Jetton, the previous leader. Cooper's total earnings for the year neared $100,000 again, and in the season-long all-around competition, he placed fourth.[10] In 1983, Cooper won the all-around championship, National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) title, and calf-roping championship. This made him the first PRCA competitor since 1958 to win three discipline season championships,[11] and the fourth in PRCA history.[12] Cooper broke the record for yearly prize winnings with $153,390.84 in earnings,[11] and claimed the all-around and tie-down roping average earnings titles at the NFR.[13] In calf roping, he set a season record in earnings with $122,455 for the year.[12]

After holding the lead in the all-around standings late in the NFR, Cooper ended up in second place for the year, behind Dee Pickett [Wikidata]. He did manage to win his fifth straight calf roping season championship.[14] In steer roping, Cooper was unable to defend his 1983 championship title; he was in seventh place before a win in the discipline at the NFSR caused him to move up to fourth for the year.[15] In 1985, Cooper wound up second in calf roping for the season,[16] though he was the discipline's champion in the Winston Tour series.[17] He won the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo's all-around title in 1989,[18] and by September 1990 was the PRCA's all-time leading money winner with career earnings of more than $1.1 million. Cooper was in sixth place in the 1990 PRCA NFSR standings, before breaking his left wrist and suffering a concussion in an automobile accident.[19]

Cooper eventually returned to competition, but had another injury setback in 1993, when he pulled a groin and missed three months of rodeos. Later that year, he won all-around and steer-roping championships at Cheyenne Frontier Days.[20] In 1994, he was out of action for much of the year after rotator cuff surgeries. He claimed a calf-roping title at the 1995 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.[21] Later in the year he had the fastest average calf-roping time at the NFR, which was later described as Cooper's "favorite moment" at the event.[22] Cooper finished second in the all-around standings in 1996.[23] That year, he led the NFSR in average earnings in steer roping; Cooper became the first cowboy to win four NFR average steer roping titles, a record that has since been surpassed by Guy Allen. It was the eighth NFR average title of his career and his ninth overall NFR championship, counting his 1983 all-around victory. As of 2016, he was second among cowboys in NFR titles, behind Trevor Brazile, and first with all-around championships excluded.[13] At a 2000 rodeo in Lovington, New Mexico, he surpassed $2 million in earnings; Cooper was the first to reach this mark in rodeo.[24] As of 2011, Cooper remained a part-time competitor in rodeo events.[25] By 2016, he had retired.[26]

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Personal life and death

Several members of Cooper's family have competed in rodeo events. His father, Tuffy, was a PRCA cowboy who was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1998; he taught roping to Roy when he was a child.[4][5] Cooper's sister, Betty Gayle, was a champion in cowgirl events and is in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. He also had a brother, Clay, who was a professional rodeo cowboy, as was his cousin Jimmie.[5][9] Cooper had three sons—Clif, Clint, and Tuf—who are all cowboys. They all participated in the 2010 NFR's tie-down roping event, making it the first time three brothers had done so.[25] Tuf won three PRCA tie-down roping world championships in 2011, 2012, and 2014,[27] and was the winner of the 2017 PRCA all-around world title.[28] Cooper's stepdaughter, Shada, is married to Trevor Brazile, a 26-time PRCA world champion.[28][29]

On April 29, 2025, Cooper died in a house fire at his property in Decatur, Texas, at the age of 69.[30] His memorial service was held on May 26, 2025, at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.[31]

Legacy

Inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1979, Cooper was part of the Hall's inaugural class of enshrinees in the category of Tie-Down Roping.[1][22][32] For his skills in calf roping, he acquired the nickname of "Super Looper".[1] The ProRodeo Hall of Fame calls Cooper "one of the most dominant ropers in the history of the sport."[1] He was noted for his speed and quick hands, in addition to his rope-tossing ability. Calf roping champion Toots Mansfield said of Cooper that he had "perfected the art of roping and tying a calf about as far as it can be perfected."[3] Fellow cowboy Joe Beaver praised Cooper's consistency and ability to avoid errors and said, "At his prime, he had no competition."[28] Cooper and other members of his family founded the Cooper Rodeo Foundation, which aids children and young adults in rodeo.[33]

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Awards

  • 1976 PRCA Rookie of the Year[3]
  • 1976, 1980–1984 PRCA Calf-Roping World Champion[34]
  • 1983 PRCA Steer-Roping World Champion[34]
  • 1983 PRCA All-Around World Champion[34]
  • 1992 PRCA Texas Circuit Calf-Roping Champion[35]

Honors

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References

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