OKLAHOMA CITY – The new paint still had a fresh smell the first time the Duvall brothers made their way into State Fair Arena.

The grand opening in the storied complex was the 1965 National Finals Rodeo, the championship event developed by the Rodeo Cowboys Association, now known as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Within a year, Roy Duvall was in the mix at ProRodeo’s grand finale, a 10-day affair that features only the top cowboys from the regular season.

Bill Duvall was right there with has baby brother, just nine months younger. They were more than siblings; they were partners in the business of rodeo while wrestling steers and making a living in a sport they loved. Bill Duvall never qualified for the NFR, never earned a gold buckle, but he played a major role in the family’s success.

Roy Duvall is now 82 years old living near Bill in Checotah, a community of about 3,000 souls in eastern Oklahoma. Roy is a three-time world champion steer wrestler (1967, ’69 and ’72) who still owns the record for the most NFR qualifications for a bulldogger at 24, including 21 in a row from 1966-1986. Bill was right beside him every step of the way as the champ’s hazer, the cowboy who rides on the opposite side of the steer to keep the animal in line to help secure the fastest time possible.

“That was the highlight of our lives,” Bill Duvall said of those magical moments six decades ago. “We’d been to the IRA Finals in Tulsa, and we’d been to Pasadena, Texas, and a lot of amateur rodeo stuff, but when we went to Oklahoma City to bulldog in that coliseum, that was the deal. It was good for the cowboys. It was good for the people that lived there. It was good for the committee. Everything worked out pretty good.”

Rodeo has been “pretty good” for the Duvalls. Bill and Roy serve as dual patriarchs to a laundry list of exceptional talent. Cousin Tom Duvall has been to the NFR, as have Bill’s sons, Sam and Spud, both two-time qualifiers. The third generation of the family, Sam’s son Riley, is a four-time qualifier who is still competing at a high level at age 32. His first trip to the championship was 2016, 50 years after his grandpa hazed for his great-uncle in Oklahoma City.

Later this spring after 60 years of showcasing some of the greatest accomplishments in Western sports, that building will be torn down, but the memories will stand long after the last beam falls. The Oklahoma City ProRodeo – set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, and Saturday, Jan. 25, at the historic Jim Norick Arena at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds – will be the final PRCA-sanctioned event inside those magical walls.

“That’s really the only reason I’ve entered that rodeo,” Riley Duvall said.

Cord McCoy, a lifelong cowboy with family ties to rodeo, owns McCoy Rodeo with his wife, Sara. They’re producing next week’s rodeo with the same mindset. The McCoy family understands the history that goes with State Fair Arena, which was renamed in 1971 to honor former Oklahoma City mayor Jim Norick.

“When I look at the history that is in that building, I knew there had to be a way to bring ProRodeo back to it and give it the perfect send-off,” Cord McCoy said.

That includes taking a gander at legacies built by cowboys like Roy and Bill Duvall.

“We did anything we could to enter rodeos,” Roy Duvall said in a 2001 story published in The Oklahoman. “We started out tough. We had us a homemade trailer and a Ford Car, and we went on the road that way.”

That meant battling for every dollar possible. Rodeo is unique compared to other professional sports: There are no guarantees, and only the top finishers in each round earn money. If a cowboy fails to succeed, then he is out of the cash. On top of that, each cowboy must cover his own expenses, including paying fees in order to compete. While most of that money goes into the purse along with sponsorship dollars, the cream always rises to the top when it comes time to collect the paydays.

“Most guys, when they got broke and knew they had to win money to move on down the road, they can’t do nothing,” Roy Duvall said in 2001. “I was just the opposite.

“One time I went six weeks and had not won a penny. I wound up two months behind on my phone bill and every bill I had, and I told them I’d have it pretty soon if they’d give me the time.”

Within days, he’d earned big money at the time at the Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days Rodeo and made good on his promises.

“I hadn’t won much in the rounds, but I was making good runs,” he said. “I backed in there and kept going at it and won $7,400 at Cheyenne. I tell you, them bill collectors were happy.”

His stories are just part of the lore that paved the way to greatness. Bill Duvall not only experienced it first-hand, but he was witness to what made their business venture special. In addition to finding successes on their own, they paved the way for others, and it paid dividends in the end.

“When I first started, not everybody would let you ride their horses,” Bill Duvall said. “I thought, ‘If I ever get good enough to do this, I’ll let guys ride my horse.’ A lot of guys rode my horse, and it made me a lot of money in the long run.”

Hazers and horse owners earn a percentage of a bulldogger’s earnings. Those dollars add up, but it takes a lot of trust for a man to trust another. That goes both ways, and a lot of steer wrestlers have leaned on a Duvall over the years to guide them to the pay window. It’s a trait Bill Duvall passed along to the generations behind him. Sam, Spud and Riley all made good livings at it.

“We were a family, and we worked at it together,” Bill Duvall said. “We worked to help one another. We would work at it every day, just like people work their jobs. That was great. I learned how you could help a guy a lot hazing if you know what you’re doing.”

He has also been a teacher and coach to his children and their children, and he’s getting to enjoy the rewards of it still today.  

“You just can’t believe the feeling you get when you take your grandkid to a rodeo,” he said, “and he wins the bulldogging because that’s what you’ve always done.”

His emotions sprang through his words, the pride he has in his own legacy and that of his younger brother.

Those wearable rodeo trophies?

“They’re just something to hold your belt up so your pants don’t fall down,” Bill Duvall said

Gold buckles may tarnish, but the memories that come with them live on through the generations.