Michael Gaffney

During his career, Gaffney amassed thirteen 90-point rides and successfully rode the legendary Little Yellow Jacket twice in 2004, for 93.75 and 96.5. Gaffney was the 1997 PBR World Champion and retired in 2005 to bring his expert analysis to the PBR’s television broadcasts. Gaffney said that, like so many others, he was “on shaky ground” and thankful that the “PBR came to pass” when it did. Even then, the meeting was in April of 1992, and the first sanctioned PBR event didn’t take place until the fall of 1993, with the first season actually taking place in 1994. He would eventually go on to win the 1997 PBR World Championship. The year Gaffney won, there were only 18 events – compared to the 30 that make up a complete season in recent years. The 42-year-old New Mexican ranks as one of the PBR’s all-time greats. “It was a big pipe dream like you wouldn’t believe,” Gaffney said, “a big hope that maybe we could change our destiny and change some of what we were having to go through – since we were the ones putting our lives on the line for little or nothing.”