Charles "Charlie" Sampson (born July 2, 1957) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in

bull riding Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider. American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports." To recei ...

. He was the 1982

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States and Canada, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National ...

(PRCA) World Champion

bull rider Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider. American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports." To recei ...

. He is the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

cowboy to win a world championship in professional rodeo. He was inducted into the

ProRodeo Hall of Fame The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, pr ...

in 1996.

Early life

Sampson was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on July 2, 1957. To avoid the violence that surrounded him as a boy, he took a job at a riding stables near

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census. Until 2014, the US census cited the City of Gardena as the plac ...

. There he sparked an interest in horses and rodeo. He was a fan of the famous African-American bull rider,

Myrtis Dightman Myrtis Dightman (born 1935) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee. Known as the "Jackie Robinson of Rodeo", Dightman was the first African-American to compete at the ...

, who was known as the "Jackie Robinson of Rodeo".

Career

Sampson stands 5 feet, 4 inches tall. He was a ground breaking rodeo cowboy. He was the first Afro-American to win a world title in the PRCA. In 1983, there were only six black members of the PRCA. Sampson was competing on a national level. Sampson very rarely mentioned race as an issue, even though he was competing in a sport dominated by white competitors. Sampson once said in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "I haven't encountered discrimination as much as ignorance. Some people still don't realize that something like a quarter of all the cowboys back in the old West were black."

Injuries

He is known for his many injuries as well. Sampson's left calf has 17 pins and two metal plates. In the ''New York Times Magazine'', Sampson noted, "In 1983, a bull jerked me down and cracked my skull--I broke every bone in my face except my nose. I broke my ankle, my leg, my sternum, my wrist. In '88, I had an ear ripped off when a bull ran over me and his foot caught my hat." He shattered his face in a riding accident in front of Ronald Reagan. His PRCA career lasted almost 20 years, with 11

National Finals Rodeo The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in the season for each event. The NFR is held each year in the fi ...

(NFR) trips.

Retirement

He retired after the

National Circuit Finals Rodeo The NFR Open is an annual championship rodeo event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) held annually in the United States. The event was previously known as the National Circuit Finals Rodeo (NCFR) from 1987 to 2021, before bein ...

in Pocatello, Idaho, in 1994. He spent his retirement doing ads for companies like

Wrangler Jeans Wrangler is an American manufacturer of jeans and other clothing items, particularly workwear. The brand is owned by Kontoor Brands Inc., which also owns Lee. Its headquarters is in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, in the United States, wit ...

and Timex. In 1996, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

Wins and awards

* PRCA World Champion bull rider, 1982 * PRCA Sierra Circuit bull riding champion, 1984 * Turquoise Circuit bull riding champion, 1985–86 and 1993. * Copenhagen/Skoal bull riding champion, 1992 *

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

$50,000 bonus round bull riding champion * 2-time bull riding champion at

Pendleton Round-Up The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roug ...

* 2-time

Grand National Rodeo The Grand National Rodeo, Horse, and Stock Show is one of the largest rodeo events in the United States. Held annually in the Cow Palace in Daly City, the annual Grand National brings rodeo to an urban audience. The Grand National is also a count ...

(Cow Palace) champion * 2-time bull riding champion at

California Rodeo Salinas Salinas is a major stop on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. The Salinas rodeo (pronounced the Spanish way: "roDAYo") began in 1911 as a Wild West Show on the site of the old race track ground, now the Salinas Sports ...

* 3-time champion of

George Paul Memorial Bull Riding The George Paul Memorial Bull Riding is an annual bull riding event held every spring at the Val Verde County Fairgrounds in Del Rio, Texas, United States. It is held in honor of George Paul, the 1968 Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) World Champion ...

in Del Rio, Texas * Rodeo Superstars Champion bull rider

Honors

* 2019

Bull Riding Hall of Fame The Bull Riding Hall of Fame, located at Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, is a hall of fame for the sport of bull riding. It is incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Texas, a ...

* 2009

Ellensburg Rodeo The Ellensburg Rodeo opens every Labor Day weekend along with the Kittitas County Fair in Ellensburg, Washington. Started in 1923, the Ellensburg Rodeo has grown from a local competition among ranch hands to the Professional event of today with ...

Hall of Fame * 2008

Rodeo Hall of Fame The Rodeo Hall of Fame was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1955. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of cowboys and cowgirls from around the world. The h ...

of the

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Ame ...

* 2004 PBR Ring of Honor * 2003

National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, formerly the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame, is a museum and hall of fame in Fort Worth, Texas. History The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum was founded F ...

and Hall of Fame * 1996

Personal life

Sampson attended

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Since 1969, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the communities of Pinal Co ...

. He married Marilyn Casmon in 1984. Casmon hailed from Big Spring, Texas. The Sampsons had two sons: Laurence Charles who was born in 1984, and Daniel Carl who was born in 1988. They made their home in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Charles 1957 births Living people Sportspeople from Los Angeles African-American sportsmen Bull riders ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees Professional Bull Riders: Heroes and Legends 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople