Courtesy of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Bodacious the bull, during a 1994 rodeo.
The famous rodeo bull, Bodacious, became the first animal inducted into the RodeoHouston Hall of Fame this week.
Bodacious rose to fame after he began competing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, starting in 1992. He had more than 100 outs — referring to the number of times a bull rider was unable stay atop him for the full 8 seconds — with only eight qualified rides.
“Of his 136 outs, most of them was against real quality top bull riders,” said stock contractor Sammy Andrews, the bull’s owner.
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According to the Houston rodeo officials, Bodacious had a reputation as the “most dangerous bull in rodeo history.” He was retired in 1995.
“Bodacious was an animal that had a unique way of bucking,” Andrews said. “And he managed to always have the best cowboys.”
Courtesy of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Champion bull rider Ty Murray during a 1990 competition.
Champion bull rider Ty Murray also joined the hall of fame, alongside Bodacious. Murray rode the bull a total of three times during his career.
“I always tell people that his front feet would leave the ground before his back feet came back down,” Murray said. “I’ve only seen a handful of bulls in my lifetime be able to do that.”
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A fifth-generation cowboy, Murray always dreamed of bull riding.
“For me, it’s like walking or talking,” he said. “It just goes back as far as I can remember.”
Natalie Weber / Houston Public Media
Champion bull rider Ty Murray (second from left) holds his daughter, Oakley, and sits next to Sammy Andrews, owner of the famous rodeo bull, Bodacious at a Hall of Fame induction on March 10, 2026.
Murray won the all-around championship at the National Finals Rodeo for six consecutive years, from 1989 to 1994. He also won the bareback riding event in 1993 and was the bull riding champion in 1998.
The champion bull rider co-founded the Professional Bull Riders organization in 1992. He retired in 2002.
“After my career is over, to be recognized in these ways is very special,” Murray told reporters after the induction ceremony Tuesday.
With him was his 7-year-old daughter, Oakley.
“I had a family really late, because I didn’t want to do the world’s most dangerous job with a wife and kids waiting for me at home,” Murray said. “So it also makes it special that I get to bring my wife and my daughter to something like this.”