Skipper was born in Alvin, TX, in 1944. He attended Allen Military Academy in high school and went on to receive a football scholarship to Ranger Junior College, where he was captain of the team his sophomore year. After college, he started riding bulls. The cowboys soon discovered that he was great at getting them out of jams. Bubba Goudeau, and many other cowboys, urged him to start putting on makeup and get out there and protect them.
At a rodeo in Kennedale, TX, Sloan Williams saw Skipper helping the cowboys and liked his style. Sloan hired him for one rodeo. He also saw Skipper’s natural ability with fighting bulls and hired him for the rest of the year. He continued this relationship with Sloan for five years. During this time, he worked 4 SRA finals and the IRA finals in 1972. After Sloan quit producing rodeos, Skipper went on to get his PRCA card.
After the Denver convention, Skipper had been hired for one rodeo. The producer was Tommy Steiner. When the rodeo was over, Skipper was hired for the rest of the year. He went on to work a total of 2 years for Tommy. During this time, he worked the National Finals in 1974. He is the only bullfighter to work the IRA and PRCA finals.
In 1975, Skipper worked for Jim Sutton in South Dakota. It was at this time he met friend Miles Hare. They both worked the Bad Lands Circuit Finals for 2 years. Skipper went on to work the 1978 finals. When the 78′ finals were over, Skipper went into semi-retirement, working a few select rodeos. By this time, he already had 3 knee operations. When he had his 4th, he considered going into full retirement. They came out with the Wrangler Bullfights so he decided against retiring. He won the first 5 bullfights. In 1980 and 81′ Skipper won the Black Velvet Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, NV, and Long Island, NY.
In 1982, Skipper won the Wrangler World’s Championship. He had stopped working rodeos and was just competing in the Wrangler bullfights due to his failing knees. Skipper continued to work the Wrangler bullfights through 1988, when 2 more knee operations forced him to quit completely.
In looking back over his career, Skipper says, “I didn’t make much money, but I had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends. SEE YA ON DOWN THE ROAD!”
