Rodeo legend Roy Cooper has died: See how Oklahoma Sports Hall of Famer changed calf roping
Roy Cooper, eight-time world champion roper and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Famer, died the night of April 29. Multiple news reports said Cooper died in a fire at his Decatur, Texas, home, according to Parade Magazine.
Tuf Cooper, Cooper's youngest son, made the following statement on his official fan page Facebook:
"It is with great sadness that our family shares the passing of our Dad, The Super Looper, Roy Cooper. We're all in shock and at a loss for words from this tragedy at the moment."
While Cooper was not born in Oklahoma, his mother grew up just outside of Lawton, and he joined the rodeo team for Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant. He would make Durant his home for 12 years, and those years were some of his most successful as part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association.
Of Cooper's eight world championships, six were in tie-down calf roping, one in steer roping and one all-around. He won the coveted Triple Crown (tie-down roping, steer roping and all-around titles in the same season) in 1983.
Cooper qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 20 times, and he made 13 trips to the National Finals Steer Roping.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, and is "undoubtedly the greatest roper of his generation," according to his National Rodeo Hall of Fame entry. In 1987, he became the first to earn a million dollars from rodeo winnings.
Still to this day he is considered by many to be "The greatest of all time" when it comes to calf roping, according to Sports Illustrated.
Contributing: Former staff writer, Ed Godfrey
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Rodeo legend Roy Cooper, Oklahoma Sports Hall of Famer, dies at 69
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