Livestock • Inducted 2024
Hal and Pete Burns of Burns Rodeo Company did not know if any of the six bulls they bought at the 1983 Jim Shoulder’s National Finals Rodeo Stock Sale would be any good, but at least one looked good. That one was a black and white speckled bull weighing in at 1,700 pounds with a 30” horn span. They called him Mr. T.
Mr. T took a year to settle into his new job. When he was sold at the auction, he was a fighting bull. Burns decided to try him on the bucking side of things. The first few times were good but not great. Mr. T got his horn wrapped in a rope coming out of the chute. He went to fight the rope and found a rhythm that got the rider off his back. After that, Mr. T became a powerful force, jumping and spinning hard.
For the first five and a half years of his career, Mr. T threw every rider. Some came close, but it wasn’t until Marty Staneart climbed aboard at the 1989 Cheyenne Frontier Days that Mr. T’s winning streak came to an end. Staneart was attempting his second try on the bull that year; Mr. T had thrown him earlier at Greeley. After eight seconds, Staneart walked away with a 93-point ride.
Mr. T won the PRCA’s Bull of the Year award in 1986. That same year he won Bull of the NFR. He won a second Bull of the NFR title in 1989. His NFR record stands at 11-0. His most dramatic ride may have been the 1989 10th Round match with Jim Sharp. Sharp needed one more qualified ride to have covered all ten of his bulls and win the World Championship. Mr. T had other ideas and Tuff Hedeman was crowned World Champion Bull Rider.
Burns retired Mr. T at the 1990 NFR. Shortly after his retirement, Mr. T was taken to the Growney Brothers ranch in Red Bluff, California. He spent his days with another PRCA Hall of Fame Bull, Red Rock. Even though Mr. T lost his second Bull of the Year title to Red Rock in 1987, the two became buddies in retirement.
Accolades
Biography
PRCA Bull of the Year
1986
Top Bull of the NFR
1986, 1989
Born: 1978 in Norfolk, Nebraska
Died: 1996 in Red Bluff, California