HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — More than 250 teams are bringing the heat tonight as they compete in the 52nd World’s Champion Bar-B-Que contest at NRG Park.

That includes a team that’s been smoking ribs for over fifty years and is still going strong! The Floyd, Morrow & Larkin team first started competing in the Houston Rodeo Bar-B-Que contest in 1974. Back then, John Floyd and Abraham Morrow would fire up a one-barrel pit in a gravel parking lot, and cook for family and friends. They always had their specialty.

“Everybody else turned in pork roast, and Abraham’s real forte was cooking ribs,” said Floyd. “We were basically the ones putting ribs out, and cooking ribs out here was a huge advantage in the contest.”

Over the years, Abraham Morrow’s signature ribs have won championships. He passed away in 1994, but his nephew, Gary Morrow, took over working the grill. Now, he’s passing the cooking baton to his own son, Chris.

“I love it,” said Chris Morrow. “I love being out here with Dad and having a good time and feeding people.”

The menu at the Floyd, Morrow & Larkin Bar-B-Que tent is always top notch – and the friendships are always strong.

“We’ve all gotten, over the years, gotten to be really good friends,” said Floyd. “And we enjoy doing this every year. We invite our friends out to enjoy it with us.”

“It’s a good time to reconnect with people you don’t see all the time,” said Gary Morrow. “We enjoy doing it. We enjoy the family atmosphere, the fact that we can all sit down and laugh and talk and just have a good time.”

The Floyd, Morrow & Larkin team consider each other family – and that’s why it’s so important to them to give back to other rodeo family. The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo has committed millions to youth education and college scholarships.

“We get letters from the kids going to school, thanking us for the money and acknowledging that we helped them get through school,” said Floyd.

Floyd joked that back in the 1970s, they could have never imagined how their signature barbecue would take off.

“We were all 30 years old and said, if we’ll be here 50 years, we’ll be 80 years old! And sure enough we are!” he said.

The grand champion at the Bar-B-Que cookoff will be announced on Saturday. For a schedule, tickets and more information, visit rodeohouston.com.

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