The New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame has announced the induction of Roy Cooper into its Class of 2024.
Born in Hobbs, New Mexico, on November 13, 1955, Roy Cooper overcame severe childhood asthma to begin practicing roping by the time he entered high school. According to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, he earned the nickname "Super Looper" due to his exceptional calf-roping skills and became the first Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) cowboy to exceed $2 million in career earnings. He also captured the PRCA Rookie of the Year and his first world tie-down roping title in 1976.
As per the National Cowboy Museum, throughout his 37-season career, Cooper amassed eight PRCA world championships—six in tie-down roping (1976, 1980–84), one steer roping (1983), and the all-around world title in 1983, achieving rodeo’s Triple Crown that year. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum notes he made 19 tie-down and 13 steer roping appearances at the National Finals Rodeo and was the first PRCA cowboy to break the $2-million earnings mark in 2000.
The National Cowboy Museum also found that in 1992, after recovering from a serious car accident, Cooper returned to win the Texas Circuit calf roping championship. According to their biography, he continued competing into the mid-1990s, ranking in the PRCA top 15 and notably finishing fifth in calf roping in 1995.
Cooper was inducted into multiple halls of fame: as part of the inaugural ProRodeo Hall of Fame class in 1979 (tie-down category), the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1983, the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008, the Lea County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
