Olaf Growald
World champion. Prodigy. Rodeo royalty. One of the best ever. Fort Worth son Tuf Cooper is kind of a big deal — and a total badass. The 30-year-old rodeo star is living the cowboy dream, earning millions for tie-down roping and steer roping over the course of his career. He has a beautiful wife and a ranch in God’s country, surrounded by friends and family. Prize saddles line the walls of a trophy room the size of an apartment. From the Tuf Cooper Performance clothing line to Tuf Cooper’s Junior World Championship, he’s one of the biggest names in rodeo. Even his horses have their own Instagram pages.
But the native Texan doesn’t take any of this for granted. “I’m so fortunate to be able to do all the things that I get to do,” says Cooper. “I love it so much.” He has four world titles under his belt already, and he’ll compete for his fifth this December in Arlington when Globe Life Field hosts the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. It will be the first time that the 10-day championship has been held in Texas since 1961, and Cooper will enter the competition ranked No. 1 in the all-around.
Can he stay on top and ride away with another world title? For the fourth-generation cowboy, the secret to a successful roping run is deceptively simple: “You have to be able to adapt, and you have to be able to be patient,” he says. Cooper has spent decades on his horse practicing both. This year, those skills came in handy out of the saddle as well, as COVID-19 forced us all to adapt and to be patient in ways that we never expected.
Like most of us, Cooper’s life and livelihood came to a screeching halt in spring 2020 as the pandemic descended, canceling rodeos from Corpus Christi to Canada. The thick dust of uncertainty clogged the air. Prayers went up. People locked down, leaning on their loved ones to make it through the tough times.
But for cowboys, uncertainty has always played a significant role in their lives. Animals are unpredictable. Wins and losses come fast. Bad years follow good. Prayers happen every day, and faith and family are everything. “We adapt to whatever life throws at us,” he says, “and if you have a good team around you, it makes it easier.” Cowboys have always lived locked down to their duties, bound to their animals and to their work. That’s especially true for elite rodeo athletes like Cooper, who practices every single day. “I completely dedicate my entire life to it.”
Olaf Growald
Born to rope Cooper’s career started early. As the youngest sibling, he had to work harder to keep up with his two older brothers, Clint and Clif, and his sister, Shada, all of whom competed in rodeo sports. By age 6, Tuf was already winning all-around trophies at local events, although his destiny as a roper was far from certain at that point. “You grow up, of course, wanting to be a bull rider,” he says. “When you’re a little kid, everybody wants to be a bull rider. But Mom never would let that happen.”
When he was 13, his family relocated from Childress, Texas, to a piece of land at the end of a country road in Decatur. His parents transformed it into a family compound and training center, complete with a lighted indoor arena where the kids could practice. Over the years since, the Coopers have built multiple houses on the land so they could all live as neighbors: Tuf and his wife, his parents, his three siblings and their families. With oak trees, watering holes, and room for raising animals, the ranch is perfect for a rodeo family.
But this isn’t your average rodeo family. This isn’t even your average family of rodeo champions. The Coopers are absolute rodeo royalty. Tuf’s dad is the legendary Roy “Super Looper” Cooper, an eight-time world champion and ProRodeo Hall of Famer who dominated roping in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Tuf’s grandfather and namesake, Tuffy, helped to pioneer the sport and later became the spokesman for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Roy and Tuffy have both been inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and are considered indisputable icons of the rodeo.
Those older brothers, Clint and Clif? They’re also world-class ropers who have both competed in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) numerous times. Tuf’s sister, Shada, is also an NFR qualifier in barrel racing — and she just so happens to be married to Trevor Brazile, who is known as the “King of Cowboys” because he has a record-setting 25 world titles under his belt. He’s arguably the greatest cowboy of all time. “But to me, he’s just my brother-in-law,” says Cooper, who often competes with Brazile neck-and-neck at the top of the rankings. But there’s no bad blood or awkward family dinners. Brazile has long been a coach and mentor to the younger athlete, training his horses and teaching him the tricks of the trade. “He has been a huge influence — a huge everything — in my career.”
The branches of Tuf’s family tree are loaded down with champions on both sides with too many pro rodeo cousins, relatives, and ancestors to count. As a teenager, Tuf was determined to follow in the bootsteps of his predecessors, opting for home-school so he could focus on rodeo. “I definitely put all my eggs in one basket,” he laughs. He benefited from his family’s all-star advice but also had to deal with the lofty expectations that came with being the legendary Super Looper’s son — which Tuf shrugs off. “[The public pressure to perform] has been there my entire life. But the way I look at it, I’d rather them expect me to be good than expect me to be bad. That was pretty simple for me. I knew that I was getting to do what I loved from a young age and how fortunate I was. I was definitely not going to let anything get in the way.”
Calf roping is in Cooper’s blood. Now called tie-down roping, it’s a timed event that requires strength, speed, agility, and exceptional ropework and horsemanship. The athlete must lasso a running calf from the back of a galloping horse and then dismount, run to the animal, and tie three of its legs together. Tuf’s record for doing so is a lightning-fast 6.3 seconds.
Some of the oldest events in rodeo are the roping sports, which include tie-down roping, team roping, and steer roping. They originated in the cowboy’s need to catch and immobilize animals for care on the range. “We still do it out in the pasture for a working cattle ranch; that’s how we take care of the animals,” Cooper explains. “If they need medicine or if they need work, a single cowboy out there ropes the calf, lays it down, and gives it the medicine. In and out.”
Cooper won the world title in tie-down roping in 2011, 2012, and 2014. In 2017, he took the most coveted prize in all of rodeo: PRCA All-Around Champion. Winning the all-around requires a cowboy to compete in two events, and Tuf’s second sport is steer roping. Steer roping is similar to tie-down roping but much less popular, taking place at only 10% of PRCA competitions. You won’t see this black-sheep sport at the National Finals Rodeo; it has a separate championship in Kansas each November.
“There’s not as many people that participate in it,” Cooper says. “It has its place and its fans.” In steer roping, a rider lassos the horns of a 700-pound steer and then loops the slack of the rope over the animal’s hip. As the rope is pulled taut, it causes the steer to trip or become unbalanced and fall. The cowboy jumps off his horse, runs to the animal, and ties three of its legs together. While a calf-roping run is over in 6 to 8 seconds, steer roping lasts a leisurely 10 to 12. Switching between the two events in a single competition requires a quick shift in mindset for the athlete. “In calf roping, you’re after it. But [steer roping] takes a little time. You’ve got to be patient, which is hard for a young kid — hard for a 30-year-old — that just got done trying to tie a calf in six seconds … You have to slow down and let it happen for you.”
For Cooper, a winning career boils down to hard work, a good attitude, and a great horse. Natural ability certainly helps, but it can be out-practiced. “I had to work really hard to get some natural ability,” he says. “When I was an 18-year-old kid, I was like — I’m going to beat these guys; they’re not working as hard as me. That’s how I’m going to beat them — with hard work.” As he matured, he also realized the importance of a positive outlook. “The only way to really take it to any level has to be your attitude and mindset toward each day. It’s really difficult to get better with the wrong attitude.”
And it’s almost impossible without the right horse. “They’re our dancing partners,” says Cooper. “You have to do whatever you can to get the best horse that you can have. It doesn’t matter what kind of truck or what kind of trailer you have, but it matters what kind of horse you’re riding. That’s the big determining factor whether you’re going to make it or not.” His grandfather, Tuffy, would agree. “His biggest deal was that you have to have a good horse, and the way to get a good horse is to be a good horseman.” Horses are trained to stop immediately when the cowboy loops the calf, then back up slowly and gently to maintain the right amount of tension in the rope. Too much slack, and the calf may stand up. Too little, and the animal ends up being dragged, which hinders the tying process. “You have to be connected to your horse.”
Above all, a roper must be flexible. “When the gate opens and [the calf] goes out into the arena, we have no idea what it’s going to do. We think we do because calves are animals of habit. But sometimes they trick us,” he explains. “You’ve got to be able to adapt to whatever happens.”
Olaf Growald
Out of the saddle Cooper’s ability to adapt was put to the test in a whole new way when the entire rodeo industry was shut down by COVID-19. “For a full two, two and a half months, there was nothing — absolutely nothing,” recalls Cooper, who typically travels to 80 rodeos every year. “The first couple of weeks … I pulled my hair out going crazy.” But things soon leveled out for the cowboy. “It was great to be home. I enjoy every day, whether I’m home or traveling. Luckily, I had horses to take care of. I just exercised them and tried to stay in shape so I could be ready for whenever the first rodeo was.”
When smaller rodeos started to take place again during the summertime, mostly in Midwestern states, they attracted two or three times the usual number of contestants. Competition was stiff. “It’s definitely been tough for a lot of people,” Cooper says. “I’ve been fortunate to be able to keep my hat pulled down and be able to go back to the rodeo whenever it got cranked back up.”
Cooper and his wife, Tiffany, headed north to South Dakota for most of the summer to rodeo and to visit her grandparents. “I needed to get out and just go. I needed to get out of my head … We got to do a rodeo or two a week and hang out in the Black Hills. It was really nice. Spent a lot of time with the grandparents. Played a lot of cards at night. It was honestly a lot of fun. It was something that we wouldn’t have been able to do, spending that much quality time with our family … We took our trailer, and we got another motorhome, and we just set up shop for three months.”
The downtime may bode well for Cooper’s chances at the 2020 NFR. He won the all-around in 2017 after taking the previous year off. “[Roping] has been a job for me since I was 14 years old … from the time I was 14 to 26, I never took a day off unless I was forced to. And I didn’t let anything force me to,” he says. “In 2016 I pretty much took the year off, and that was one of the best things that I’ve ever done … I only went to a handful of rodeos that year.” The much-needed break didn’t just rejuvenate the cowboy; it also reminded him just how much he loved his job. “It was so cool for me to figure out how awesome of a gig I have. When I came back, I was ready to roll.”
Roll he did, guided on an upward trajectory by his faith in a higher power. “Throughout that season, God told me that I was going to win the all-around. I was like — yeah, whatever. My brother-in-law is still competing; he’s the 13-time all-around world champion. He’s pretty much never been beat. I’m not going to win.” But Cooper was riding better and better, and he started to believe what God was telling him. “We had that conversation a few times throughout the year, and as [the National Finals Rodeo] got closer, I was in complete peace that it was going to happen.”
Cooper has always ridden on faith, literally — his horse tack is branded with “JESUS IS LORD.” Unlike many cowboys, he’s not superstitious at all. He has no problem wearing yellow shirts or tossing his hat onto a bed, which are taboo behaviors for many rodeo athletes. “I try and do all that stuff just to prove a point that it doesn’t work, and that I don’t believe in it. I believe in good luck; I don’t believe in bad luck. I believe in working your tail off and God’s plan and doing your best each day and not really believing anything bad is going to happen. Just positive thinking.”
Cooper’s competition shirts also bear the name of Jesus, which is embroidered right on the collar. Jesus takes the prime real estate above the logos of impressive sponsors like MGM Grand, American Hat Company, and Panhandle Western Wear. “When I look in the mirror and I get to see Jesus’ name, it reminds me of who I am. It reminds me of my faith and that I try — I try — my best every day to have a relationship with the Lord,” he says. “We’re not perfect. I’m not. I’ve made tons of mistakes … but God allows me to be who I am, and I just want to give him 100% of the credit back in everything that I do. Win or lose.”
At the 2017 NFR, he won, claiming the highest honor in rodeo: PRCA All-Around Champion. Standing on stage to accept the award, Cooper thanked his family for helping him, especially his brother-in-law, Trevor (whom he had just edged out to win). And then — guided by faith — he took off his cowboy hat, bent down on one knee, and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Tiffany McGhan.
“I was obedient with the Lord’s plan,” he says. “That was the biggest moment in my professional career … and I think what God was showing me, and what he wanted me to show my wife, was that even though rodeoing can be so much — we can make it so big — but God wanted me at the biggest moment in my professional career to put my wife and my family ahead of my job. As it should be.” When he proposed, the crowd went wild. His voice quivered. Tiffany cried. It was a total surprise. Cooper had a gold belt buckle, but no diamond ring to put on her finger. “I guess I didn’t have that much faith,” he laughs.
Tuf and Tiffany had been together since 2011 when they clicked on an extended first date to a Texas Rangers game … followed by a Cowboys game and then dinner at Uncle Julio’s. Obviously, things were going well. Tiffany also comes from a rodeo family, and she grew up competing in barrel racing and cutting. When she started traveling to events with Tuf, she needed something to keep her busy — and independent. She had always loved taking pictures, so she launched the blog Fashion Posse to showcase styles that she saw on the rodeo trail. It was a hit, and Tiffany is now a top influencer in the Western fashion industry. She also co-owns Western Runway magazine and reported on fashion for The Cowboy Channel at last year’s NFR.
The couple had always kept their relationship private, but they went public in a big way after the proposal with a seven-episode reality show on Ride TV: “Tuf n’ Tif.” The season finale took place on New Year’s Eve 2018 when rodeo’s preeminent power couple tied the knot in the Stockyards with an Old West-themed wedding and 900 of their closest friends. They toasted their fairy-tale celebration with a shot of Pendleton Whisky — no sissy champagne here. Tuf secretly altered Tiffany’s vows so that she promised to let him sleep in, saddle his horses, and do all the rodeo driving — which came in handy when they left a few days later on a rodeo trip to four competitions in three different states.
Olaf Growald
Home-field advantage The couple will return to the place where their love story began when Tuf competes at the National Finals Rodeo in Arlington. Since that first date at the old Rangers ballpark, the team has upgraded to a shiny new home: Globe Life Field. The NFR will be the first non-baseball event at the venue, which just opened this year. Las Vegas has hosted the NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center for more than three decades, but Nevada’s coronavirus-induced ban on large gatherings made that impossible this year. For months, no one knew if a world championship would even happen in 2020.
So, all the rodeo athletes breathed a big sigh of relief this fall when the PRCA announced that the show would indeed go on — just not in Vegas. “We were thrilled,” says Cooper. “We knew something was going to happen but didn’t know at what scale. Then when they said Arlington, Texas — we knew it was going to be big.” After a year with very few big rodeos (or paychecks), the cowboys and cowgirls are chomping at the bit to compete. “It’s huge for us, not just for the competitors but for our entire Western industry,” he explains. “It’s for all of us guys and gals to meet up at the end of the year and talk about how crazy it’s been and what we’re looking forward to and what the expectations are moving forward — and to watch a great competition.”
Globe Life Field offers a much larger setting for the event than the Thomas & Mack Center, a basketball arena that’s 170 feet long. In Arlington, the course will be 240 feet long and shaped like a baseball diamond. “It’s going to be really different. It’s not going to be the same sling-it-tight, gunslinger competition … the cows are going to get more of a head start here, so you’re going to have to chase them a little further. We’re throwing some long balls instead of some fast ones,” Cooper says. “Honestly, it fits my style a lot better.”
He’ll be competing at the ballpark every night for 10 days straight on Dec. 3-12. Currently, Cooper is ranked No. 2 in calf-roping and No. 1 in the all-around. “I feel good about both of them.” And he’ll definitely have home-field advantage. “I’m really excited it moved to Fort Worth, 30 miles from my house. I get to use my practice facility and sleep in my own bed.”
His enthusiasm for the NFR is palpable, as is his love for Fort Worth. “Every time I drive by and I see downtown, I’m just like wow — that’s home. It’s so cool. What other city has the Stockyards in it? With a weekly rodeo? I grew up competing [at Cowtown Coliseum]; it’s where I got my start. Anytime I ever get in a rut, I just go back down there, make a smooth run, and you know — back to normal.”
“Normal” has a new shine after a year of upended plans. “I’ve realized that you try to get all these game plans, and then God has other things in store for you,” says Cooper. He hopes to continue rodeoing as long as he can and to have a big family with Tiffany somewhere along the way — all girls, because “they’re just the sweetest.” For now, however, God’s message to him is clear: “Get focused,” he laughs. “Do your job. Just be a cowboy, which can mean so many things in my eyes. Be a helping hand. Be a smile to a stranger. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Will Tuf Cooper take the all-around title at the world championship this year? Win or lose — he knows that he’s already won. “Doing what I do is an absolute blessing,” he says. “I’m getting to wake up, put a cowboy hat on, and go compete on my horse against my best friends … and that’s one of the coolest things in the world.”
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
Texas will host the world championship of rodeo this year for the first time in almost six decades. Originally held at Dallas’ Fair Park in 1959, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) has taken place in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center since 1985. But with a COVID-19 ban on large gatherings in Nevada, the event has been moved to Globe Life Field in Arlington for 2020. It will return to Vegas next year, but you can experience the PRCA’s biggest party right here in Tarrant County this Dec. 3-12.
How it works: The 15 top-ranked athletes in each event compete nightly for championship titles and a pretty penny. Whoever has earned the most money throughout the entire season, including their winnings at the NFR, will be crowned the world champion of their event. The most prestigious award is the all-around, which is given to the highest-earning cowboy that competes in more than one event.
The events: The NFR showcases rodeo’s seven main sports, which fall into two categories: timed events (tie-down roping, team roping, and steer wrestling) and roughstock events (barrel racing, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, and bull riding). Women compete in barrel racing, and men compete in the rest of the sports.
Tickets: All 10 days are sold out. But you can still enjoy the NFR action at a slew of side events in Fort Worth and Arlington, including a gala dinner at Billy Bob’s and a tournament at The Golf Club Fossil Creek. We’ve listed some of our favorite events here, and you can see the full schedule online at nfrexperience.com.
National Finals Rodeo Events
Cowboy Christmas at Fort Worth Convention Center
Not to be confused with the series of lucrative summertime rodeos that are also called Cowboy Christmas, this pop-up market is the go-to shopping destination for Western-themed gifts. Browse clothing, jewelry, artwork, home furnishings, boots, and spurs from hundreds of vendors. It’s also the best place to buy official NFR and PRCA merchandise.
You’ll find interactive rodeo exhibits in the middle of the market at NFR Central, along with autograph sessions, live acoustic music, and prize giveaways. There will also be daily entertainment at The Rodeo Live Stage; famous rodeo clown Flint Rasmussen hosts “Outside the Barrel” at 12 p.m., followed by “Cowboy Revival” with country musician Shane Minor at 1:15 p.m.
Dec. 3-12, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free admission.
Junior World Finals at Cowtown Coliseum
More than 800 young cowboys and cowgirls will compete for gold buckles in all of the NFR events plus breakaway roping and pole bending. The Cowtown Coliseum will also host Bullfighters Only and Mutton Bustin’ competitions in the afternoons.
Dec. 3-12, times vary. Tickets start at $10 and are available on-site.
NFR Streaming at Texas Live!
Watch a direct feed of the NFR competitions on a 100-foot-wide screen at Texas Live!, located right across the street from Globe Life Field. This massive entertainment complex offers multiple levels of seating and yard games, and it’s surrounded by restaurants so there’s plenty of nosh. It will also host the NFR’s nightly buckle ceremonies and The Cowboy Channel’s pre-show broadcast. You can walk next door to the ProRodeo Fan Zone for family-friendly fun.
Dec. 3-12, doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets from $10 (standing room only) to $720 (VIP booth for eight people). Advance purchase recommended.
The Schedule A smattering of events to attend during NFR
PRCA Convention Nov. 30 – Dec. 3 Omni Fort Worth
Junior World Finals Dec. 3 – 12 7:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. at Cowtown Coliseum
National Finals Breakaway Roping Dec. 3 – 12 10 a.m. at Globe Life Field
Outside the Barrel with Flint Rasmussen Dec. 3 – 12 Noon – 1 p.m. at Fort Worth Convention Center
Mutton Bustin’ Dec. 3 – 7 3 – 4 p.m. at Cowtown Coliseum
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Dec. 3 – 12 6:45 p.m. at Globe Life Field
Buckle Ceremony at 10:30 p.m. at Texas Live! Bullfighters Only Dec. 8 – 12 3:30 – 4 p.m. at Cowtown Coliseum
The Standings Here are the top 10 cowboys (in order of current ranking) pining to become the 2020 All-Around World Champion
No. 1: Tuf Cooper; Decatur, Texas $111,450
No. 2: Trevor Brazile; Decatur, Texas $94,803
No. 3: Stetson Wright; Milford Utah $86,584
No. 4: Clay Smith; Broken Bow, Oklahoma $80,737
No. 5: Zack Jongbloed; Iowa, Louisiana $44,170
No. 6: Thomas Smith; Barnsdall, Oklahoma $40,401
No. 7: Eli Lord, Sturgis; South Dakota $37,509
No. 8: Maverick Harper; Iowa, Louisiana $17,000
No. 9: Laramie Allen; Llano, Texas $16,057
No. 10: Marcus Theriot; Poplarville, Mississippi $15,665
