Bobby Berger was born in June 1945 in Halstead, Kansas. He began his rodeo competition as a youngster in Little Britches rodeos. He was the 1967 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) Bull Riding Champion. In 1976 and 1977 he was the Prairie Circuit Bull Riding Champion and in 1982 the Prarie Circuit Saddle Bronc Champion.
Berger was the 1977 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Champion Saddle Bronc Rider and the 1979 PRCA World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider. He qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) a total of 13 years; 12 of those years he was among the top 10 finishers in the All-Around. In 1971 he was runner-up to the All-Around Champion, and that same year he also qualified for the NFR in all three roughstock events — one of only three cowboys to qualify for all three roughstock events the same year (the other two being Rodeo Hall of Famers Larry Mahan and Ty Murray). Berger also won the NFR Bull Riding Average in 1969 and 1971, and the Saddle Bronc Average in 1980. Jerome Robinson and Bobby Steiner rate Berger as one of the most talented bull riders of his era.
Berger is thought to have been the first cowboy to ride Beutler Brothers’ famous bronc Descent. A former PRCA Board of Directors member, he was inducted into both the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Ring of Honor and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Berger and his family live in Pearsall, Texas.
