Butch Myers, the 1980 PRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler and 12-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier, passed away July 24 in Athens, Texas. He was 78.
Myers qualified for the NFR in steer wrestling from 1980-87, 1989, 1995 and 1997, and once in tie-down roping in 1989.
“I think my brother Rope and my sister, Tygh, and I want to remember our father, not only for his achievements in the arena, but also how he touched other people in rodeo through his (rodeo) schools,” said son Cash. “I think the legacy of dad is family and rodeo and not only trying to achieve his own success but inspire others and teach others. He also was very proud of the fact that his kids and grandkids all competed in rodeo. We were all consumed with rodeo.”
Butch Myers has quite the rodeo family tree. His late wife, Fanchone, was a barrel racer and former Miss Rodeo Kansas and his sons, Rope and Cash, were PRCA standouts as well. Daughter Tygh also was an all-around rodeo hand.
Rope was a steer wrestler, and nine-time NFR qualifier (1995-2001 and 2003-2004), highlighted by him winning the 2001 PRCA World Championship.
Cash is a seven-time NFR qualifier – six in steer wrestling (2000-2003, 2005, and 2008) and once in tie-down roping in 2001. He also qualified for the National Finals Steer Roping eight times in (2002, 2005-2009, 2021-22).
Butch’s nephew is legendary ProRodeo Hall of Famer Ty Murray, and his grandson is tie-down roper Quade Hiatt, who 11th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings.
“He was a huge, positive influence and inspiration to me,” said Murray, whose mom Joy was Butch’s sister. “When I was a kid, I was getting to see him going to the NFR and winning a world championship. The first year I won the all-around (world championship) in 1989, it was between me, him and Clay O’Brien Cooper. Butch was a rodeo cowboy to the core. He was competitively roping calves until the day he died.
“I got to see what Butch could do when I was young, I was around 12 years old when he won that world championship, and that just fueled my fire. He tells the story that when he showed me his gold buckle, I told him ‘I can’t wait till I get mine.’ Having that close of an influence was powerful because it is one thing to have heroes you may never meet, but it is another when you have a hero who is a world champion that you get to talk to and he gets to tell you about what he did and what it is like.”
Butch won his first trophy saddle in Little Britches competition at age 11. He also was champion steer wrestler, calf roper, and bareback rider throughout high school and college. Myers obtained a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and then obtained a master’s degree in agricultural education from Kansas State University in Manhattan.
Myers obtained his PRCA card in 1968, but he couldn’t compete hard, so he turned in his card. For years, Myers’ priorities were finishing his education, raising a family, while competing in local and open competition.
Myers returned to the PRCA in 1980 and proceeded to win the world title with $44,708. He also won the steer wrestling average championship at the NFR in 1986 and 1997.
During the ’97 NFR in Vegas, Myers set the average record on 10 head at 43.3 seconds at 52 years old. Myers broke the average record he set in 1986 at 44.3 seconds on 10 head. In 2001, Rope joined his father as an NFR steer roping average record holder with a 37.4-second time on 10 head.
Hiatt, whose mom is Tygh, cherished the time he was able to spend with Butch.
“He was a man I looked up to and I have still never met a man as mentally strong and physically tough as him,” Hiatt said. “He was an all-around bad *ss and he made sure that my run was good enough to win out here.”
Courtesy of PRCA
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