One of the highlights of my winning a gold buckle in December was that my grandpa Billy Tryan was there to see it. 

Grandpa Billy has been going to watch the NFR since 1984. He watched my dad compete in the 1984 NFR in Oklahoma City and hasn’t missed an NFR since. He had tickets with a guy for years and in 2001 that guy cut him out of the tickets but it worked out good for him because that was the first year Travis and I qualified. And there has been a Tryan qualify every year since, so he’s been set for tickets. I think it’s pretty neat he’s been to the NFR that many times. He’s one of the few people who can stand up when the announcers ask who in the audience has been there for every single NFR in Las Vegas. 

It means a lot to me that he comes for all 10 performances and also comes to watch my kids rope at the World Championship Dummy Roping. He loves sitting with the kids every night at the performance and makes sure they get popcorn. Tyler and Braylon think he’s awesome. And he’s always up for going to the South Point for a go round win. He is one of the coolest people I know.

Clay