Roy Cooper

I used to tell Roy, go swing on your rope, put it under your arm, nod your head.

And people would go, he just told Roy Cooper that? Well, he's

my friend.

You tell

That's

awesome.

How about that story of So Roy Cooper being late to the rodeo, he's got his plane and his own automobiles, but he's got his plane and he tells that pilot, tell him to hold my calf because I'll be late to the rodeo.

And them boys held up the whole rodeo for Roy Cooper.

I went to a roping out there, and I met him again.

And he goes, "Hey, if you wanna do it, let me know." S- so I think it was in '79, yeah, at the finals Roy calls me.

He goes... 'Cause he would drive back and forth from Durant to Oklahoma City, and he goes, "Hey, I'm coming back tonight, going back tomorrow night, and Leo wants to talk to you." So I said, "Okay." So we g- go and, uh, go back to the finals with Roy that night, and, uh, Leo says, "Hey, we need to do this." I said, "All right." And he goes, "But we gotta do it real fast, so we gotta get your card bought." It's at the finals.

"We gotta get a card bought and get entered." So back then, I don't know if you still can, but back then you could get a, the director of the team roping, which was Dick Yates, and then you have a couple other members sign for you.

And so I had, uh, Dick Yates sign for me.

[laughs]

25 years old, never been on the rodeo trail, and Leo the Lion, I mean, greatest at the, by far the greatest at the time, calls you up.

Roy C- Roy Cooper calls you to tell you Leo the Lion wants to rope with you.

I don't know how many people go back to the back.

But, you know, even like Sage Kinsley, Tuff Cooper, Roy Cooper.

I've just been blessed to be, you know, J.B. Mooney.

I have all these buddies that are,

And we had just kind of learned that technique.

It was relatively new, but we went to a c- a guy's, um, this guy named Roy Cooper who, a world champion calf roper.

We went to his school and learned how to do this.

Well, I grabbed at the wrong spot, and I ended up with a loop around my, around my ankle.