Ty Murray

Ty Monroe Murray (born October 11, 1969), is an American nine-time World Champion professional rodeo cowboy.

Ty Murray was born on October 11, 1969, in Phoenix, Arizona, to Harold "Butch" and Joy Murray.

He has two sisters, Kim and Kerri, both also involved in rodeo during their childhoods.

His father competed in rodeos, broke colts for 30 years, and was the starter for The Downs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

His mother competed as a child in the National Little Britches Rodeo Association.

She took first place in their bull riding competition.

However, it was not long before the family moved to a ranch in Glendale, Arizona, that was around 10 miles from Phoenix.

At 2 years old, Murray's father put him on calves, but rode alongside and held him.

When he started walking, he got spurs, and he spurred his mother's sewing machine cover to pieces.

At 8 years old, he helped his father break colts.

At 9 years old, he rode his first bull.

That 1,800 pound brindle just loped around, so his father warned him it was not typical.

Murray felt invincible back then.

However, the second bull threw him and stepped on his jaw, breaking it.

Murray figures he would have quit after that had his affection for the sport not been complete.

At 12 years old, Murray rode his first bareback horse in a rodeo.

It was the first time he had been somewhat scared riding livestock; he referred to it as "spooky."

At 12 years old, Murray purchased a mechanical bucking machine with money he saved doing chores.

He joined the Deer Valley High School gymnastics team to improve his rodeo skills.

Since the meets were on the weekends, though, he never actually competed in a meet.

Larry Mahan first paid attention to Murray when he was about 13 years old.

Mahan, world champion rodeo competitor, was Murray's hero.

Mahan noticed him at a Little Britches rodeo.

When Mahan heard Murray was going to compete in all three riding events, that piqued his interest.

He wanted to meet someone who was competing like he had done.

Mahan called Murray to invite him to his place in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

They spent that summer flying around the West in Mahan's plane participating in several different activities.

Murray soon began a weightlifting program.

That was when Murray started participating in gymnastics.

Later Murray was mentored by the world champion, who had won more National Finals Rodeo (NFR) first place "All Around Cowboy" championships than anyone in history.

When Murray was in third grade, his teacher passed out a paper that asked students, "If you could do anything in your life, what would it be?"

Murray immediately wrote out, "I want to beat Larry Mahan's record."

He was one of the top rodeo contestants in the world from the late 1980s to early 2000s.

He is one of the co-founders and a board adviser of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR).

In 1987, he won the Arizona National High School Rodeo Association all-around championship.

He tied with Dennis Schmidt for the bareback riding championship.

This helped Arizona win the team national title, which it had not won in 12 years.

He competed in every roughstock event and in cutting.

From 2005 to 2020, he was also a regular color commentator for several televised PBR events.

In 2023, Murray was ranked No. 11 on the list of the top 30 bull riders in PBR history.