After being the only RodeoHouston Hall of Fame inductee in 2024, Leon Coffee’s time in the barrel may have come to an end but he is still an intrigal part of the iconic winter rodeo.
“Being here over 31years now, you can go lots of places but there will never be a bigger crowd that you can work with than right here and the people that I’ve worked with here, this is just one of the best rodeos I’ve ever worked in my life,” Coffee said.
While the structure of the rodeo is part of what makes it flow so well, three decades of tweaking for perfection is what it took to get there. Coffee’s RodeoHouston career started in the Astrodome and now, he carries on at NRG Stadium.
“Last year when they accounced that I was going to be out of the barrel, the most I’ve ever wanted to cry in an arena was when there was 78,000 people out there and I was the only man in the arena and they were all standing there giving me a standing ovation,” he said.
While Coffee is no longer in the barrel, he still in the stands connecting with the crowd in the stands and bringing life to RodeoHouston.