In the 1960s and 1970s, Larry Mahan was a leader in taking rodeo to the next level.
Mahan brought credibility to being a cowboy and he was brilliant with the media, who eventually learned they could always come to him.
According to Hall of Fame announcer Bob Tallman, Mahan’s effortless charisma could make anything, even entering a rodeo on a pay phone, look cool.
“No matter how busy or tired he was, he always had something, even a short verbiage, about being positive, being a cowboy, wearing the hat and he always knew when the camera was coming because he’d push ‘er back,” Tallman said. “He was promoting a lifestyle.”