Jim Shoulders

The Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award is named for perhaps the greatest western-sports athlete of all time. Jim Shoulders was a giant in and out of the arena, winning 16 world titles and becoming a household name in the process. The award recognizes some of the many whose efforts have built the PBR into a global phenomenon – stock contractors, contract personnel, employees, and more. This legend’s rodeo career began in 1942 at the young age of 14 when we won his first bull riding competition in Oklahoma. He continued his professional career as the winningest cowboy of all time in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) where he won 16 world championships. This included the World All-Around Rodeo Cowboy championship five times (1949, 1956-1959), the World Champion Bareback Rider title four times (1950, 1956-1958) and the World Champion Bull Rider title seven times (1951, 1954-1959). Injuries put an end to his rodeo career and he retired to his ranch in Oklahoma with his wife Sharon where together they raised four children. He was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979 and today is the only cowboy ever to be inducted into the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame. Shoulders was also an avid supporter of the PBR over the years, lending his knowledge and experience to the organization. He was in attendance at as many PBR events across the country as possible.