Oklahoman has a mix of experiences at historic Jim Norick Arena

OKLAHOMA CITY – The date is engrained in his mind, but Cord McCoy doesn’t remember much of it.

It was late September 2004, and McCoy was competing at the State Fair Rodeo in Oklahoma City. It was the biggest ProRodeo in his home state, and eagerness added to the excitement. During the championship round, he was bucked off his bronc, but his left foot hung in the stirrup. Momentum pushed the southeastern Oklahoma cowboy backward as he fell, and the animal’s hoof connected with the left side of McCoy’s head.

He was motionless on the arena dirt. His brother, Jet, leapt from the back of the bucking chutes in a single bound to be at his side, with medical personnel right behind. Family in the stands could only look on as everything transpired. A circular fracture left it’s mark and pushed inward toward his brain. He was transported to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, where he began the process of healing. He had surgery to fix his malady, then spent time in intensive care before employing months of rehabilitation to relearn cognitive skills.

McCoy recovered, and a few months later returned to the rodeo arena. His was a success story and part of the history of Jim Norick Arena, but McCoy wants to add another chapter with the production of 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. Tickets are available at McCoyRodeo.com.

“When I found out this was going to be the last year of that coliseum, I knew I wanted to be part of the last PRCA rodeo ever held there,” said McCoy, co-owner of Lane, Oklahoma-based McCoy Rodeo with his wife, Sara. “There’s so much that has happened in that building, and there are a lot of great memories for people, especially those involved in rodeo.”

The former State Fair Arena hosted the National Finals Rodeo from 1965-1978 before it moved into downtown at the then-named Myriad Arena, now the Cox Convention Center. In fact, the first event in “The Big House” was the NFR, which had begun in 1959 in Dallas before a three-year stint in Los Angeles. The redirection was a chance to get ProRodeo’s grand finale back into Cowboy Country, and the coliseum was a natural fit.

“I have my own history there,” McCoy said, reflecting on his successes and that ominous circumstance two decades ago. “I qualified for my first (International Finals Rodeo) there and won my first IPRA world titles there.”

In all, he earned five championships in the Oklahoma City-based International Professional Rodeo Association before taking his game to the PRCA and the PBR. He was trying to make his name on the highest levels of rodeo while riding bareback horses, saddle broncs and bulls. After his injury, and because doctors recommended he wear a helmet, McCoy focused on bull riding for most of the rest of his competitive career.

Seven months after the 2004 mishap, he was back in action. He had taken baby steps, from retraining his brain to walk and talk to getting on bucking animals.

“I’d put that little old helmet on, and I’d start walking horses around,” McCoy said in 2005. “About a month before I went to the doctor to see about being released to compete again, I started getting on horses bareback to get my balance ready to ride bulls. I went to ride him across the pasture, and I almost fell off several times.

“Now, this is something I’ve done all my life, and I couldn’t do it. You would’ve thought this guy would never be a bull rider. I had to take the horse up and set him in a little bitty pen that we have set up for kids just so I could do it.”

From that first rodeo at the Lazy E Arena northeast of Oklahoma City, McCoy set out on his plan to earn a trip to the NFR. With the help of a big payday at the Xtreme Bulls event during Bullnanza at the then-Ford Center, now the Paycom Center, he earned his qualification to Las Vegas, the NFR’s home since 1985.

“I think it all fed off my spirituality,” McCoy said 20 years ago. “It was tough starting back, because as far as trusting yourself and your reaction and also trusting in God … that was something I had to just turn over to God.

“This is what I’m going to try to do, and if this is what’s out there for me, it’ll happen. Just leave the reins to Him and let Him guide me.”

That faith has kept him in the saddle longer than many realized could happen. He retired from riding bulls in 2013 after an NFR qualification and six trips to the PBR World Finals, tried his hand at bronc riding for a bit all while riding with a helmet, and then focused his attention to raising bucking animals. He’s been a stock contractor in the PBR since before he hung up his spurs, raising some of the top bulls in the organization.

In fact, his bull, Ridin’ Solo, is a two-time PBR Bull of the Year. He and his wife also developed McCoy Rodeo a few years ago, and they’ve been producing PRCA events ever since.

“Outside my momma, my daddy and my family, rodeo was my first love,” said McCoy, who, along with Jet, was part of the CBS reality series “The Amazing Race” three times. “I’ve been involved with rodeo my whole life. I love the history of rodeo, and being part of it means the world to me.

“For us to be involved in producing the last PRCA rodeo at Jim Norick Arena means everything to me and means everything to my family. When you add my history and my family’s history with that coliseum, there’s a lot to it, and I think just about everyone from Oklahoma with a rodeo background has something about it they will always remember.”