PBR honors Oklahoma bull, bull rider and businessman for first Hall of Fame class in OKC
A legendary Oklahoma bull rider, an Oklahoma rancher and businessman and a world champion bucking bull from the Sooner State are among the first class of inductees to the soon-to-be-launched Professional Bull Riding Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
The PBR announced Thursday the recipients of its 2023 Heroes and Legends awards at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which will be the first “brick and mortar” home for the PBR Hall of Fame.
The PBR Hall of Fame will be part of the museum’s American Rodeo Gallery and should be fully completed in 2025.
The late Jim Shoulders of Henryetta, Express Ranches owner Bob Funk Sr. of Yukon, and world champion bucking bull Bruiser will be recognized during the PBR event at the Paycom Center on Sept. 9.
Also being honored will be Kody Lostroh, the 2009 PBR world champion and current assistant coach for the Oklahoma Freedom bull riding team, and Maria Crimber, wife of 10-time World Finals qualifier Paulo Crimber.
Shoulders, who died in 2007 at the age of 79, won 16 Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association world championships and was a giant in the sport of rodeo.
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The PBR is posthumously honoring Shoulders with its Ty Murray Top Hand Award, a recognition given since 2018 to individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the sport of rodeo.
Even though Shoulders’ career had ended by the time the PBR was formed 30 years ago, he and his wife, Sharon, were supporters and helped promote the organization during its early years.
Funk Sr., founder of Express Employment Professionals which is headquartered in Oklahoma City, will be honored with the PBR’s Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award.
Funk Sr. started Express Ranches 30 years ago and it has been a major sponsor of PBR events and rodeo cowboys in Oklahoma. Express Ranches has provided $14.6 million in sponsorship money to just PBR athletes over the years, he said.
“Right after I started Express Ranches, I decided I would support the cowboys,” said the 83-year-old Funk Sr. “I respect that they are willing to ride. The cowboys have to be extremely tough to ride the bulls today, as mean as they are and as tough as they are. I am really proud of them when they hit the eight second mark.”
SweetPro’s Bruiser will be given the PBR Brand of Honor, based on a bull’s career statistical records. SweetPro’s Bruiser, a bucking bull from H.D. Page and D&H Cattle Co., in Dickson, is one of three bulls in PBR history to win three world titles (2016-18), alongside Little Yellow Jacket and Bushwacker.
Crimber will be honored with the Sharon Shoulders Award, which recognizes the great women of professional bull riding and Western sports. Sharon Shoulders died in 2021 at age 91.
Matt West, the voice of the PBR from Delaware, Oklahoma, said the state has produced many rodeo legends and that it is fitting that the PBR will house its Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
“It’s pretty incredible,” West said. “You can’t really begin to fathom the impact our state has had on this sport. Like country music, I feel like we produce the best ones in the business, and we are doing the same thing in professional bull riding.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: PBR announces inaugural class of inductees to its Hall of Fame
