Luke Brown will carry the South Carolina flag into the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas for the 16th time this month, and at 51 will be the elder statesman of this year’s NFR contestant pack. The end of the 2025 regular season was a wild one for Luke, who now makes his home in Lipan, Texas, with his wife, Lacy, and their 11-year-old daughter, Libby. Brown will head for Trey Yates at NFR 2025.
Q: Have you ever had a more stressful end to a regular season?
A: The end of the 2023 season might have been a little more stressful. It turned out Hunter (Koch) and I didn’t need Sioux Falls. But it was pretty stressful, partly because I didn’t make it in 2021 or ’22. I love Sioux Falls, and when it came down to it this year, I wasn’t surprised. We were sure lucky to make a good run on our first steer to close the deal. It was 90% over after Round 1, and when we caught our second steer, it was a 100% done deal.
Q: Did you literally make it in at the last rodeo you had left to count?
A: I had one more rodeo had I needed it. We were entered at San Bernardino (California) on Sunday over the eight-man round at Sioux Falls. When we made Sunday at Sioux Falls, we drew out of San Bernardino.
Q: When did you start roping with Trey, and how was that connection made?
A: Trey called last fall, and asked who I was roping with this year. It was just kind of a God-given thing. I felt good about it, because I could tell how bad he wanted to go back to the Finals this year.
Q: Was it an immediate, easy transition as teammates and friends?
A: Yes, from the beginning when we started practicing and took off, it was good. Trey’s a really good guy.
Q: What were the highs and lows of your regular season?
A: We got good checks at all the winter rodeos. We also had a really good fall at some big rodeos. The spring and summer were a little low, and I don’t really know why. It just is what it is when you’re rodeoing. Sometimes you draw bad and make mistakes. But during Cheyenne and Spanish Fork, we started drawing good and making some big hits. We won our share, but it seemed like we were always one rodeo away from being right in the middle of the herd.
Q: Was there a time when you had faced the fact that you just might not make the Finals this year?
A: That’s always in the back of your head when things aren’t going well. But Joe Beaver told me something 15 years ago that I’ve never forgotten. He said, “Whoever wins the most in the fall wins the most all year.” The Northwest rodeos are amazing. They’ve really stepped it up, and get better every year. Late summer and fall is the best time to be roping good. You need to remind yourself, “I’m going to go to 80 rodeos. It’s gotta get good at some time or another.”
Q: Who keeps you calm in your most stressful times?
A: Lacy definitely knows my buttons. She knows when I’m freaking out and when I’m just being a baby. When things got almost unwound this year, she’d get a revelation and send us a scripture that put things into perspective and changed my whole mindset. She’s always been good at that. Lacy knows this game as good as any hall of famer.
Q: How many more NFRs do you think you have up your sleeve?
A: Shoot, I don’t know. Lacy and Libby say they’re not ready to be done, and I got a new horse from Chad (Masters; Rolex is the paint he’s ridden in recent times that’ll turn 18 on January 1). I think—knock on wood—that he’s more relatable to Slim and Cowboy than any horse I’ve had in a while. One day we’ll all decide we want to do something else. Until then, we still love it.
Q: Do you ever burn out on the constant grind of rodeo life?
A: No, I don’t get burned out. I get really aggravated when I make dumb mistakes. But I love the roping and the competition. And it is by far the best time ever to be a professional team roper. Rodeos are stepping it up like crazy. It took right at $115,000 to make it in the heading this year, and it’ll take more next year.
Q: Which other 2025 Top 15 header do you look up to most, and why?
A: (Kaleb) Driggers. I think he’s the greatest, most talented header in our era, and he takes no shortcuts. He’s a hard worker, and he’s very smart. He gets the horse he needs. He’s the guy who’s got it going on in and out of the arena. He’s the pinnacle, and he’s a great friend to me and all of us. But I hate to pinpoint one when every guy has one coolest talent. They’re all amazing, and everyone has his go-to moments when he really shines. Driggers is just the most well-rounded.
Q: Who’s had the greatest influence on your roping career?
A: Chad Masters, for sure. He’s been a part of every NFR, from the first one to this one. Nobody knows my roping or my thoughts better than him. He’s my go-to guy, from finding horses to knowing which horses I need to not saying too much but saying what needs to be said. I’ve had a lot of help from a lot of people, but Chad’s been the rock of it all. Al Bach was a game changer, too. He’s a great motivator who doesn’t make things too complicated. Martin (Lucero) was phenomenal also. And always Lacy.
Q: What horse do you plan to ride at the Finals?
A: If I had to go today (at press time in late October), I’d ride my gray (Buddha, 15), because I know him so well. I think Rolex will be there, too. I’ll probably ride one of those two.
Q: Your team aside, if you had to pick one you expect to catch fire in Vegas, which team would it be and why?
A: Never count Kaleb and Junior (Nogueira) out. Ever. Clint (Summers) and Jade (Corkill), either. They’re both phenomenal in that building, and I could see Andrew (Ward) and Jake (Long) smoking it out of ’em. Honestly, every team there will have a chance to have a great week. Any one of the 15 teams that made the NFR could dominate.
Q: Does it come as any surprise that you’ve won about $3 million in your roping career?
A: It’s a huge surprise. It probably doesn’t matter to anybody but me and my family, but it’s a pretty good feat to be able to say that. There have been way better headers than me over the years that didn’t get to rope for as much money as me. To enjoy this as long as I have, it’s a pretty good life and story I have to tell.
Q: You headed for Jade at your first Finals in 2008. Take us back to that year.
A: I’d roped with Richard Durham at Waco in the fall of 2007, which counted for the 2008 season. Then I roped with Monty Joe (Petska) all year. I ended up 12th in the heading, and Monty Joe was 16th in the heeling. Jade had roped with a few guys that year, including Chad and Jake Stanley. When the regular season ended, Jake and I needed heelers, and Walt Woodard and Jade needed headers. Jade and I had been buddied and in the same rig most of the year, so we were going to rope together at the Finals.
Q: Did you ever dream you’d be roping at your 16th NFR at 51 when you made your first one at 34?
A: When I made the first one, I didn’t figure there’d ever be another one. Every NFR has been a blessing. It’s not easy to do, that’s for sure. I don’t take any of them for granted.
Q: Do you have any roping goals left?
A: I set a goal every year to make the NFR and have the best year I’ve ever had. That’s been my only goal. I don’t know that you can ask for much more than that. My goal for 2026 is to rope better than I did in 2025. Same plan. Same attack. Just try to do a better job at everything I do.
—TRJ—
