EVENTS
All-Around Champion Cowboy, 1989-1994, 1998, 2006
Bull Rider, Champion, 1993, 1998
Seven-time all-around champion Ty Murray was born in 1969 at Phoenix, Arizona, where his father taught him to ride at age two. He came up through the junior rodeo system, winning the all-around in Little Britches Rodeo and in the National High School Rodeo Association. He specialized in the rough-stock events. Murray competed on the NIRA circuit while attending college in Odessa, Texas, and turned pro in 1988.
That year, he became PRCA Rookie of the Year and bareback Rookie of the Year, a promising start. The next year he won both the college all-around and the PRCA all-around, becoming the only man ever to capture college and pro titles in the same season. A money winner, Murray made $60,000 in his first year, was the first to earn more than $200,000 in a season, and was one of a handful to amass over $1 million in lifetime earnings.
Sidelined with injuries in the 1990s, Ty Murray made several incredible comebacks. “I’m not one to sit around and cry about things I can’t fix. . . . Rodeo teaches you to roll with the punches at a young age,” he said. He remains one of the top cowboys of all time.
