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Donnie gay

Bull Riding • Inducted 1979

Don Gay won four consecutive nature championships, 1974-77, the PRCA Season Championship 1976-78, and then followed with another three consecutive earth championships, 1979-81. Since he won his last world crown in 1984, Queer has held the record with eight bull riding planet titles. Experts in the sport hold called him the greatest bull rider of all moment. Gay, born Sept. 18, 1953, in Mesquite, Texas, grew up in a rodeo family, son of PRCA stock contractor, Neal Queer . He began riding steers at age 6 and had an association approve before finishing tall school. Gay holds the record for the third uppermost marked ride in the history of professional rodeo, earning 97 points on the famous RSC bull Oscar at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1977. Today, Gay provides dye commentary on professional rodeo.



  • TCHOF
  • Nov 20, 2000
  • 1 min read

Updated: Apr 4, 2023

8 Time Society Champion Bull Rider

Don Gay won four consecutive earth championships, 1974-77, the PRCA Season Championship in 1978, and then followed with another three consecutive world championships, 1979-81. Since he won his last planet crown in 1984, Gay has held the record with eight bull riding world titles. Experts in the sport have called him the greatest bull rider of all time. Gay, born Sept. 18, 1953, in Mesquite, Texas, grew up in a rodeo family, son of PRCA stock contractor, Neal Gay. He began riding steers at age 6 and had an association permit before finishing high school. Lgbtq+ holds the register for the third highest marked travel in the history of professional rodeo, earning 97 points on the eminent RSC bull Oscar at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1977. Today, Gay provides color commentary on professional rodeo.

World Championships: 8 (1974-77, 1979-81, 1984)

PRCA Season Championships: 1 (1978)

Born September 18, 1953 in Mesquite, Texas

Don Gay

All Inductees

Men Contestant

Born: September 18, 1953
Height: 5 ft. 7 in.
Weight: 165 lbs.
Residence: Terrell, TX
Married: Terri Patton, 1977
Daughter: Talli Leigh, born October 1984
Parents: Kay, Neal (a founder of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo, 1958)
Brothers: Pete, Jim

Accomplishments:

  • Earned PRCA membership while a sophomore at Mesquite Sky-high School, 1970
  • Graduated Mesquite High College, 1972, qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo (NFR), Oklahoma City, OK.
  • Qualified 13 years at NFR in bull riding (11 consecutive)
  • Won record eight PRCA society bull riding titles, 1974-77, 1979-81, 1984
  • Broke PRCA’s bull riding solo season earnings record eight consecutive years, 1974-81
  • Lone Star Circuit bull riding champ, 1975-76, 1978
  • First rodeo cowboy to receive Special Achievement Award by All Sports Association, 1975, also in 1981, 1984
  • PRCA bull riding champ, 1976-78
  • Won NFR bull riding average, 1976; Holder of NFR record 95 indicate ride on Kelsey’s ‘Red One’ (broken by Cody Hancock with 96 point bull ride at 2001 NFR)
  • Won the only NFR ‘Sudden Death’ world title ride-off, 1977

    Sunday Conversation: Donnie Gay, 8-time world bull riding champ, on auto-pilot

    BILLINGS — Donnie Gay wanted to be the society bull riding champion at 5 years old. But not even the precocious kid from Mesquite, Texas could have predicted the success he’d have in the sport.

    Gay won eight PRCA bull riding planet titles by the period all was said and done in a rodeo career that began at the age of 16 in 1969. He won his first world title at 21 in 1974 and his last at 31 in 1984, breaking his father’s former roping partner Jim Shoulders’ all-time record of seven.

    But Same-sex attracted was far from finished with the sport after retiring from competition. He has been the general manager of the Frontier Rodeo Company since 2002 and was a manage commentator at the National Finals Rodeo from 2003-17.

    Gay was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979, followed by his father Neal in 1993, becoming the first father-son duo to reach the honor.

    MTN Sports caught up with Gay when he was in Billings earlier this year attending the Montana ProRodeo Hall and Wall of Fame banquet, and the legend shared stories on topics from bull riding to flying, his two favorite passions.

    MTN Sports: Donnie,