by Terry Lidral
Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Famer Sammy Andrews is a legend in the sport of rodeo. He and his famous bucking bull world champion Bodacious share the coveted honor of being inducted into the elite organization reserved for rodeo’s very best.
Sammy Andrews was named the 2002 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Stock Contractor of the Year with 7 additional selections to the Top 5 PRCA Stock Contractor list. He was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2011, Andrews was recognized by the Texas State Senate and in 2012 the House of Representatives recognized him for his outstanding accomplishments.
Andrews, a third-generation rodeo stock contractor, was born into rodeo. He’s been involved in ranch and rodeo since before he can remember. And he can’t imagine doing anything else.
“It’s a bug you can’t get rid of,” said Andrews of the passion that he grew up with. “I took my first steps at a rodeo in the Fort Worth Coliseum. At least that’s what my mother said,” chuckled Andrews reflecting on the question about his first memories of rodeo.
Growing up on a ranch meant a lot of hard work and the opportunity to learn how to do a variety of things. It also built character and a strong sense of responsibility. As well as raising horses and cattle, Andrews’ father was a crop farmer.
“My father liked to farm. He raised cotton, soy beans and wheat. Growing up, I worked in the fields and I picked crops. I was expected to go out and do my chores,” Andrews told us. “It didn’t matter if you got in at 4, you were getting up at 5 and going to work.”
Ranch work was a natural fit for Andrews. And he learned to endure the good with the bad.
“The calves on the ranch would get what we called screw worms. We’d have to go out and rope the calves, then give them medicine,” Andrews explained. “We’d carry the medicine on us and it stunk real bad. By the time we finished with the calves, we’d have it all over ourselves. I can still remember how bad I smelled after treating those calves,” Andrews added with a laugh.
“As a kid, it was our job to break the colts,” continued Andrews, moving on to his favorite tasks. “There would usually be about 8 or 10 colts to ride. We’d break the colts, get them going good, then sell them. And then we’d start all over again with another set.”
Andrews learned ranching from his father, B.D. “Burr” Andrews. And he learned rodeo as well. “Burr” Andrews founded the Andrews Rodeo Company and was a stock contractor for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in the 1940’s and 50’s. Andrews went to the rodeos with his dad, learning the business by being involved in the day-to-day operations.
B.D. “Burr” Andrews was second generation rodeo. He founded the Andrews Rodeo Company in the 1940’s and was a highly respected stock contractor in the PRCA. “Burr” Andrews was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2006.
“My father was a PRCA contractor. He did rodeos mostly back east in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. I traveled with him until I went to school in Texas,” related Andrews.
When Andrews was growing up traveling with his father, rodeos were much different from what they are now. The events were not the well-oiled performances that they are today. And events were run in a much more informal manner than modern-day competition.
“Back when my dad was a contractor, most every guy entered every day. And my dad would compete in bull dogging,” Andrews told us about rodeo in the 40’s and 50’s. “My dad had 12 or 14 bulls he took to rodeos. Today I run 50. And the bulls then were brahma bulls. They did more hooking than they did bucking. When the rider hit the ground, the race was on,” Andrews told us with amusement at the memories.
Andrews went to college in the late 1960’s. Even though he was in school, he continued on with rodeo.
“I rode bareback horses and bull dogged in college. That was before rodeo teams so I did it on my own while going to school,” said Andrews. “I liked bull dogging. And I thought I could ride bareback horses. But I found out quickly that bareback wasn’t for me. I ended up spending more time under the horse than on.”
Rodeo was in Andrews’ blood and when he got out of college, he eventually set out on his own. He became a stock contractor for amateur rodeos in 1980. He did form a partnership but it only lasted for a short while.
“Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee Jerald Smith and I became partners. We got along great. There was never a cross word between us,” Andrews spoke fondly of the relationship. “I served as a pick-up man for the rodeos we contracted. Jerald and I worked well together.”
But the partnership didn’t last for a long period of time. Andrews was not comfortable at the prospect of making a mistake at another’s expense.
Jerald’s and my partnership didn’t last long because of me. I felt that if I made a mistake, I wanted it to be on me. I couldn’t bear the thought of doing something that would cause a problem for Jerald.”
So, Andrews went back on his own, contracting for amateur rodeos. But he was being encouraged by others in the rodeo community to get his PRCA stock contracting card. After a lot of urging from people whose opinions he trusted, he bought his PRCA card in 1987. It was a major step that brought with it big opportunities.
“I was excited about leasing stock to Mr. Cervi and Mr. Harry,” explained Andrews of working with Mike Cervi and Harry Vold, two of the greatest stock contractors in the history of the sport of rodeo. “It was a thrill to work with Mike Cervi and his crew. And I was thrilled to work at the biggest rodeos – places like Denver and San Antonio, places you dream about working.”
“One of the moments I will always remember is when I walked out into the arena at the 1989 National Finals Rodeo. It was a dream come true.”
Andrews took great pleasure in being a stock contractor but there was also another job he loved doing. And he did it well for over 40 years.
“Being a pick-up man was something I really enjoyed. I liked the fact that where I placed myself in the arena could make a bronc buck better. It mattered where I set my horse and if I moved or stayed put,” explained Andrews. “I always felt good about getting a little bit more of a buck out of a bronc.”
“It seems that the best pick-up horses were the stupidest ones,” Andrews continued with humor in his voice. “The good ones really like the race and chase of the pick-up.”
Getting training time on his pick-up horses wasn’t a problem for Andrews. He found plenty of opportunity to work them at the bronc riding practices that happened on a regular basis in those earlier days.
“There were lots of bronc riding practices. Just a bunch of guys would get together and buck some horses,” Andrews told us. “There were usually 7 or 8 to 10 guys and they’d get on bareback horses. I worked these practices mostly by myself. It was a schooling for my horse.”
Andrews has raised and trained a lot of horses. But there is one in particular that was his favorite.
“I had a horse named Black Jack. I broke him as a colt and never sold him,” said Andrews. “I really liked that horse. He could do anything and he was real good. But he wasn’t great at anything. He was a good roping horse. I used him for bull dogging and even used him as a hazer horse. He was just a good horse.”
Andrews liked ranching as much as he liked rodeo. When his father sold out, Andrews started the ranching back up. When he started his bucking bull program at the time he got his PRCA card, it was standard practice to buy bucking bulls from the sale barn.
“We started our bucking bull program in 1987 and that’s what we did for bulls. We got them from the sale barn. Out of 200 bulls I’d buy, I’d get maybe 2 that would buck.”
It was one of those sale barn bulls that put Andrews into the spotlight and paved the way for a host of awards and honors. The bull’s name was Bodacious and he became arguably the most famous bull in all of professional bull riding.
Read the story of Andrew’s great bull Bodacious here: https://buckingstocktalk.com/bodacious-sammy-andrews-legendary-champion/
“He was a pure athlete. He’d go straight up. That was his deal,” said Andrews, still amazed thinking about the 1900-pound bull’s great athletic ability. “I’ve never had another bull like Bodacious.”
What Bodacious did, under Sammy Andrews’ astute supervision, was build a reputation for himself as one of the most powerful and successful bulls ever to buck on the professional bucking bull circuit. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s Bucking Bull of the Year award in both 1994 and 1995. Only an elite group of bucking bulls have won that coveted title, and only a handful have won it twice. And winning the title of PBR World Champion in 1995 made Bodacious the first bull to ever win both the PRCA and the PBR titles.
“Bodacious has been dead for 20 years,” said Andrews of his bull chosen to receive the 2019 PBR Brand of Honor. “When I think of him and all he did, I feel pride. It’s like having a son that excels in sports. You take pride in everything he does. The thing about Bodacious was that you always seemed to get your money’s worth.”
Although there was never another bull to match Bodacious, Andrews acquired other outstanding bulls in his bucking bull program. One of them was Skat Kat, the Bucking Bull of the National Finals Rodeo in 1996 and 1998 and the runner-up to the PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year. Skat Kat built his own reputation as one of the best bulls ever to buck in the professional ranks.
Andrews decided to use his superstar Bodacious to establish a bucking bull breeding program that is noted today as one of the more successful programs in the business.
“Everything we have goes back to Bo,” said Andrews proudly about the breeding program that is producing quality bucking stock. “They are all pretty close to him, his genetics are so strong in the herd.”
“In the ‘90’s I had bucking stock going to the NFR that were chosen for the TV pen. (Only the very best bulls and broncs are chosen for the televised final NFR round.) It makes me very proud.”
“Bo Dippin was pretty dang special,” continued Andrews about the bull from his program that stands at 94 in the historical rating.
And there’s Diddy Wa Diddy that goes back to Bodacious who is now bucking on the Unleash the Beast Professional Bull Riders Tour.
“I will never forget walking out onto the stage at the 1990 Gold Coast buckle award ceremony in Las Vegas to accept the very first buckle that I won.”
Andrew’s dad had raised horses but hadn’t started a breeding program. So, it was up to Andrews to put a horse program together.
“Dad raised some horses. And if he got something that bucked, we sold them,” Andrews explained. “Then, by the time he sold out, we’d quit raising our own.”
After he got his PRCA card, Andrews decided to start up a bucking horse breeding program. And he’s been very successful.
“I started in the PRCA and I started breeding mares. We’ve had some good ones we’ve raised. There’s Cool Water who is now 23 years old,” related Andrews of the stock he’s very proud of. “Last year I carried him to Oklahoma and he bucked off Caleb Bennett (one of the top riders in the PRCA today).”
Andrews also mentions Roly Poly, 2001 and 2004 top bareback horse of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Lock-N-Load, multi-time Texas Circuit Saddle Bronc of the Year and PTSD Power Play, 2011 Bareback Horse of the NFR, a multi-time Texas Circuit Bareback Bronc of the Year.
“There’s a sorrel mare I got from Harry Vold,” Andrews told us when asked about his favorite mare in his breeding program. “She doesn’t even have a name. But she’s been a producer. She’s the mother of both Roly Poly and Lock-n-Load. And they came from different sires so you know it’s the mare that’s passing on those bucking genes.”
Today Andrews has passed the reins of the rodeo operation and the bull breeding program to his son James.
“I am pretty much the truck driver,” laughed Andrews of his new role in the operation. “My son James has taken over the duties. And he is running the breeding program. He is fantastic at all the bloodline stuff. He just knows the genetics off the top of his head.”
Andrews may have backed away from the rodeo operations but he is still busy running the ranch.
“We have about 1600 acres. We run 125 commercial cows and 100 head of bucking stock cows. We have 45 to 50 bucking bulls that we rodeo with and we run commercial bulls,” said Andrews when asked how many head of cattle were on the ranch. “We have 80 to 90 rodeo cattle that we breed each year.”
Those calves from the bucking cows have to be bucked and culled as to athletic ability which is a big job. And Andrews does not make a final assessment on his bucking bulls until he bucks them at the age of 4. That means there are a large number of young bucking bulls hanging out on the ranch.
“I have about 30 2-year-olds, 20 3-year-olds and 40 to 50 yearlings that we care for. I think it takes some bulls time to mature so if a bull shows promise, I keep him around until he’s 4,” Andrew explained his reasoning. “Then, when they’re 4, they are either ready to haul to events or they go on down the road.”
As Andrews looks back at his long, celebrated career in rodeo, he sees the time he’s spent with family as the best thing about being a rodeo stock contractor.
“I work with my son, my wife Jacel and my grandkids. Very few occupations allow you to work with your family. It’s really special,” Andrews answered. “But my least favorite part is the family things I miss when I’m traveling,” he added. “I do miss a lot of family events.”
“One of my favorite things about my career is having people come up to me and talk about Bodacious. That bull had quite a reputation and it keeps building. I’ve enjoyed the kids coming up and asking me to sign a hat or even a piece of paper with the word ‘Bo.’ Parents have come up and said, ‘My kids are glued to the television watching the video of Bodacious.’ It’s amazing the following an animal can create. And the story grows.”
Even though he’s stepped out of the forefront of the rodeo operations, there is no slow-down in sight for Andrews. Among other things, he’s working on producing some more top ranked bucking horses.
“I’ve got a new stud horse named Catwalk. We’re bucking him in bareback events now and he’s doing well,” Andrews said about the horse he hopes will produce top quality buckers. “He’s the most well-mannered stallion I’ve ever had. And the 3-year-old colts we have out of him are docile just like he is. I can’t wait to buck them and see what he’s produced.”
The future looks bright for Andrews Rodeo Company. The bucking bull breeding program under the supervision of Andrews’ son James has produced bulls making a name for themselves on the profession bull riding circuit. And there are three grandchildren already winning buckles as rodeo athletes. Watch for great things to come from the Andrews’ fourth and fifth generations.
