Don Gay
Men Contestant
Born: September 18, 1953
Height: 5 ft. 7 in.
Weight: 165 lbs.
Residence: Terrell, TX
Married: Terri Patton, 1977
Daughter: Talli Leigh, born October 1984
Parents: Kay, Neal (a founder of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo, 1958)
Brothers: Pete, Jim
Accomplishments:
- Earned PRCA membership while a sophomore at Mesquite High School, 1970
- Graduated Mesquite High School, 1972, qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo (NFR), Oklahoma City, OK.
- Qualified 13 years at NFR in bull riding (11 consecutive)
- Won record eight PRCA world bull riding titles, 1974-77, 1979-81, 1984
- Broke PRCA’s bull riding single season earnings record eight consecutive years, 1974-81
- Lone Star Circuit bull riding champ, 1975-76, 1978
- First rodeo cowboy to receive Special Achievement Award by All Sports Association, 1975, also in 1981, 1984
- PRCA bull riding champ, 1976-78
- Won NFR bull riding average, 1976; Holder of NFR record 95 point ride on Kelsey’s ‘Red One’ (broken by Cody Hancock with 96 point bull ride at 2001 NFR)
- Won the only NFR ‘Sudden Death’ world title ride-off, 1977
- Scored career high 97 points on SC’s famous bull ‘Oscar’ at Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA, 1977; The bull was retired at 1978 NFR after Don rode him during the final go-round
- An original inductee in Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Colorado Springs, CO. 1979; Joined by his dad Neal, 1993; Only father-son team in the rodeo shrine
- Retired from bull riding, 1989
- Inducted into Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Fort Worth, TX.
- Inducted into Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Waco, TX. 1996
- Inducted into Athletes International Ministries, Arizona, 1999
- Color analyst for Mesquite Championship Rodeo show on FSN Southwest since 2001; Color analyst for Mesquite Championship Rodeo on TNN, 1986-01
- Color analyst for PBR on TNN, 1993-00
- Color analyst for PRCA Extreme Bulls Tour on ESPN, 2003-06
- Color analyst for Wrangler NFR, Las Vegas, NV. on ESPN, 2003-06
