July 10 @ 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm
The 2025 Heroes & Legends Ceremony, recognized as a preeminent Western sports award ceremony, will be held on Thursday, July 10, prior to the Oklahoma Wildcatters homestand, Wildcatter Days scheduled for July 11-13 at nearby Paycom Center.
Two-time PBR World Champion and Oklahoma Wildcatters Head Coach J.B. Mauney will receive the coveted Ring of Honor, regarded as the highest honor for a professional bull rider following their retirement from competition. The Ring of Honor is presented to individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the sport of bull riding, based on the core beliefs of the organization, including authenticity, toughness, respect, teamwork, and professionalism.
Considered by many as the greatest of all time, Mauney, a name synonymous with resilience, grit and freakish natural talent in the world of professional bull riding, won the PBR World Championship in 2013 and 2015, and recorded 538 qualified premier series rides in his career, second all-time in PBR, including 75 90-point rides. In 2009, he became the first rider to record a qualified ride on all eight of his bulls at the PBR World Finals.
Warren G. “Freckles” Brown will receive the Ring of Honor posthumously. A prolific rodeo competitor in the mid-1900s, Brown made history in 1962 when he won RCA bull riding world title at the age of 41, becoming the oldest athlete in the organization’s history to win a riding-event championship. Brown’s career was briefly put on pause when he travelled overseas to serve the United States military during World War II, first enlisting in the Army before being recruited to the CIA.
Despite suffering numerous critical injuries following his return to competition, including a brief period of paralysis in 1962 that required an emergency surgery and a 34-day stint in traction, in addition to his world title, Brown won the National Finals Rodeo average in 1967. During the 1967 National Finals Rodeo Brown delivered one of the most well-remembered moments in rodeo, becoming the first rider to cover the bull Tornado out of more than 200 who had previously attempted him.
The prestigious Brand of Honor will be presented to World Champion Bull Big Bucks. The PBR Brand of Honor, created in 2011, is the highest honor a bovine animal athlete can receive. The honor is based on the animal athlete’s display of consistent championship caliber performances and career statistical records.
Pioneering women’s rodeo athlete and broadcast personality Pam Minick will be honored with the Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing those who throughout their life and professional career have significantly contributed to the advancement of the sport of bull riding and rodeo.
Legendary roper Roy Cooper will be honored with the Ty Murray Top Hand Award. Created in 2018, this honor is given annually to individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to enhance the sport of rodeo.
Known by many as “Super Looper,” Cooper, who overcame severe asthma as a child to pursue a career in Western Sports, put the rodeo world on notice in his first season in 1976, winning the Resistol Rookie of the Year, Tie-Dow Roping National Finals Rodeo Average Championship and TieDown Roping World Championship.
Priscila Palermo will be honored with the Sharon Shoulders Award. Created in 2010, the Sharon Shoulders Award recognizes the great women of professional bull riding and Western sports, whose work, partnership, and faith have been as integral to the sport as the athletes themselves
