Remembering rodeo legend Roy Cooper: What to know about the ‘Super Looper’
.JPG "Roy Cooper throws a calf during the calf-roping competition in the Will Rogers Coliseum on Wednesday January 15, 2003.")
Rodeo legend Roy Cooper died Tuesday, April 29 at 69 years old.
Cooper was found dead after his home near Decatur was destroyed in a fire Tuesday, according to the Wise County Messenger. Someone reported the fire shortly after 7 p.m.
Cooper’s son, Tuf Cooper, confirmed his father’s death in a post on social media.
“We’re all in shock and at a loss for words from this tragedy at the moment,” Tuf Cooper said in a Facebook post.
Roy Cooper was a legend in the rodeo scene for several decades and is in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Here’s a look at his storied career.
Early life and career
Cooper was born on November 13, 1955, in Hobbs, N.M.
He was the son of champion roper Dale “Tuffy” Cooper and Betty Rose Cooper, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. Cooper was raised on his family’s ranch near Monument, N.M.
Honing his skills on his family ranch, Cooper began his career in rodeo at 8 years old as a breakaway roper. He would continue though his school years and won the National High School Champion Calf Roping title in 1973, according to Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Cooper spent his college years at Cisco College in Cisco, Texas, and Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Okla. During his time in Oklahoma, Cooper won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Calf Roping title in 1975.
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Rodeo career and the ‘Super Looper’
In 1976, Cooper joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and won rookie of the year.
He competed at the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show (now known as the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo) in Fort Worth in 1977 at 21 years old, according to a Star-Telegram article from Feb. 2, 1977. It was Cooper’s second time competing at the event, after making it to the final round the year prior.
Cooper’s uncle Tom Hadley, who was also the announcer at Will Rogers Auditorium, told the Star-Telegram that much of young calf roper’s success can be traced back to his father “Tuffy.”
“He first teaches them to rope from the ground. Once they get that down, he tells them to learn to tie and how to get off a horse the right way,” Hadley said. “[Tuffy] says anybody can rope — the real time saving is in tying and getting off the horse quickly.”
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Over his decades-long tenure, Cooper won one all-around title and seven individual event world championships.
Six of those championships were in tie-down roping — in 1976 and from 1980-1984 — and one in steer roping in 1983. He also won the all-around title in 1983, according to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Cooper was part of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1979.
Many knew Cooper as the “Super Looper,” which originated from a Sports Illustrated writer.
“Oklahoma City during the finals, a guy with Sports Illustrated just hung it on me,” Cooper told the Let’s Freakin’ Rodeo podcast in February. “I don’t know if I’m no ‘Super Looper.’ I’m just Roy.”
