Blue Stone, the PRCA Bull Riding World Champion in 2001 and 2002, passed away at age 43 in Utah over the weekend.
Stone’s only two NFR appearances were in his Gold Buckle years, he had purchased his PRCA card in 1998, but did not rodeo full time until 2001. His back-to-back World Championships were the first since Don Gay and Stone rode 14 of his 20 bulls total over those two NFRs.
“All I set out to do was to make the Finals,” said Stone in a Feb. 6, 2002, issue of the ProRodeo Sports News. “I had never really even tried to make it before. I decided I would try to go at least once. It worked out a little better than I planned.”
Although he was the Utah High School Champion in 1996 and runner-up at the College Finals the next year, his first World Championship in 2001 was still a shock.
“A guy like him isn’t supposed to be dying right now. He was a great bull rider and the coolest cat who just showed up and did his job. He didn’t brag,” fellow bull rider Fred Boettcher told ProRodeo.com. “When I showed up at the NFR in 2001, I didn’t even know who he was, and he kicked all our butts.”