“It’s a Great Honor,” 1981 World Team Roping Champion Awarded Rare Distinction by the Most Prestigious Rodeo Organizers in the World

This year’s Pro Rodeo Hall Of Fame has been announced. The list was led by five-time PRCA world champion Luke Branquinho and other ten notable personalities of the rodeo sport. The Hall of Fame was created to preserve the heritage, history, and culture of the cowboys and their competition.

Among the inducted Hall of Famers are former champions, pickup men, rodeo notables, and stock and rodeo committees. But one name that stands out from the list is Roper Doyle Gellerman. The legend was identified with the team roping world for four decades and is the winner of the 1981  world team roping title.

Roper Doyle Gellerman Awarded Rare Distinction

Forty years have passed since he won the World Championship in team roping but his legacy continues. He partnered with  Walt Woodard in the team where was a header and ended the 1981 season earning $48,818. He was two times Reserve World Champion in 1979 and 1991. In 1995 he was the Header Reserve World Champion. He qualified 25 times for National Finals Rodeo which is the fifth highest in competition history.

The 70-year-old Gellerman left rodeo after the year 2000 and has been working as an oilfield inspector for the last fourteen years. Speaking on the induction into the Hall of Fame to Pro Rodeo he said  “This is something I never thought would happen to me. I never thought I would ever be going into the Hall of Fame, but here I am going in and what a great honor. It means the world to me.”

The veteran got 400 or more calls and text messages from friends, family, and loved ones. He was happy with the greeting and thanked them. His fondest memory of rodeo was achieving his dream goal, which was to win the title, and the friendships he earned during the journey. After engraving his name forever in the Hall of Fame with other inductees Gellerman has achieved all.

Prominent inductees in the Hall of Fame 2023

The other names in the Hall of Fame were Cody Wright, Kenny Clabaugh, Butch Knowles, Tom Feller, St. Paul Rodeo Committee,  Cowtown, Sherry Johnson, Fay Ann Horton Leach, and the horse Nightjacket. Cody Wright had won PRCA Saddle Bronc World Champion two times in 2008 and 2010. Kenny Clabaugh was selected as the pickup man for the National Finals Rodeo seven times and is known for helping others. Butch Knowles is known to voice in rodeos and has been at the broadcast booth since 1988 for National Finals Rodeo.

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Tom Feller’s association with PCRA in different capacities earned him the award.  St. Paul Rodeo committee was known for conducting unique and finest rodeos. Cowtown Rodeo Association is one of the oldest and back to 1955. They have been awarded for their long-time participation. Sherry Johnson was inducted for her long association during which she was one of the directors on the Board of Directors of  WPRA from 1963-1971. Fay Ann Horton Leach was a founding member of the Girls Rodeo Association and had a long rodeo association.

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