Abe Morris

By Georgia Akers

You hear the expression Renaissance man. The expression came about hundreds of years ago when the world was emerging from the Dark Ages and became more aware of thinking, philosophies, art, etc.

Some examples of Renaissance men are Leonardo Da Vinci (painter, chemist, philosopher, engineering), Sir Winston Churchill (great military mind, novelist, historian, sportsman and painter) and Thomas Jefferson (president, horticulture, architecture, archaeology and founded a university) to name a few.

Films that had Renaissance men were the James Bond, Captain America and Iron Man films. The characters all had a broad range of skills.

The modern-day Renaissance Man reads books, he works out, he takes up a sport and is a sportsman, he takes classes, he becomes an entrepreneur, he travels, he earns a college degree, he is sociable, brave, is a gentleman and is humble.

Now I know you are wondering where I am going with this, but my interview is with Abe Morris, a former bull rider. The more I visited with him and heard his story, the term Renaissance man seemed to define him.

We had some phone calls that went beyond the interview and hopefully I will be able to meet him at the PBR finals.

Tell us about yourself.

I was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida and lived there for three years before moving to Woodstown, New Jersey. I lived in Woodstown and graduated from Woodstown High School in June 1974. My family consisted of three boys and three girls. I’m the oldest boy. My two younger brothers David and Reuben are now deceased. My father, the late Reverend Abraham J. Morris Sr., was a Baptist minister who had his own church for about 18 years. My mother Christine (deceased) worked for many years as a teacher’s aide at the Mary S. Shoemaker Elementary School in Woodstown, New Jersey.

Our family grew up on a dairy farm in Woodstown. My father was the manager of the milk processing plant and so our family got all our dairy products for free.

How did a kid living in New Jersey get into bull riding?

I got involved in rodeo because of my first cousins Gene, David, Jimmy Lee and Willie Ed Walker. My father sent me to live with them for the entire summer before I ever went to kindergarten. My dad wanted them to toughen me up. Cowtown Rodeo in Woodstown was only about 150 yards from their home. They were already into riding horses and ponies and eventually convinced me to become a rodeo cowboy just like them.

What was it like during the early years riding bulls?

I started riding junior bulls at the age of 10 at Cowtown Rodeo. The first time I competed I won second place and $7.50. My cousins were great coaches and put me on the easiest bull in the whole pen. They all bucked off and I rode.

You received a rodeo scholarship from the University of Wyoming. How did you come on their radar and get offered it?

I ended up going to the University of Wyoming in Laramie because Gene Walker, a legendary bull rider and bareback rider, went to Casper College a few years ahead of me. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Mostly I attended school on academic scholarships and grants. I wasn’t awarded the rodeo scholarship until my senior year in college. I competed on the rodeo team for four years.

What was it like moving from the east coast to the west?

I always knew that I wanted to go out West and rodeo. I loved watching all the black and white television Westerns as a young kid growing up in New Jersey. Going out West was a very easy decision for me. I could not wait to get out of high school and head West. I was the first Black cowboy ever to attend the University of Wyoming.

You were one of the early black cowboys in western sports. What was that like?

I lived in Orr Hall with the college football team players. When they found out that I rode bulls they embraced me and became my biggest fans. The judges were not so receptive to me at the college rodeos though. They would not give me my just due when it came time to writing down their scores.

You have had many wins in bull riding. Which was the most special to you?

The most special win for me, during my entire rodeo career, was winning first place at the Laramie River Rendezvous College Rodeo which was held right on campus in the fieldhouse. The college newspaper The Branding Iron, had published a full-page article on me and my bull riding career the day before the rodeo started. Until then 90% of the student population didn’t even know I existed. So, the students were all anxious to see me compete. Hollywood could not have written a better script because I came through after all the pressure and won my first two trophy belt buckles in the process.

I have been inducted into two different Halls of Fame.

When did you retire from riding?

I was forced into retirement when I got hurt in August 1994 at a PRCA rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. The night before I had won first place in the bull riding event at Riverton, Wyoming. I suffered a severe hip injury and had to learn to walk all over again. I was on crutches for several weeks and had to go to physical therapy for about six weeks.

Did you have a plan as to what to do next?

I was already working as a licensed insurance agent selling life insurance and annuity products to a ton of rodeo cowboys. I worked for a company called Marketing and Management Corporation of America and finished third in the nation as a top producer. Even to this day I still have my license. At one time I was also a registered financial services representative with the NASD and FINRA.

For several years you were a rodeo announcer at events such as the Cheyenne Rodeo. How did you get into sports announcing?

I started to announce the weekly PRCA rodeos in Laramie, Wyoming for Pete and Hal Burns. Afterwards I was able to apply and was approved for my PRCA announcer’s card. Hall of Fame announcer Bob Tallman was the contract personnel director at that time. I am the first Black person to obtain a PRCA announcer’s card. Almost 40 years since I got my card, there are only two Black announcers in the PRCA. I was the only one for about 35 consecutive years.

I did an interview with a news crew from Prime Sports Network at Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and divulged that I had earned my announcer’s card. The very next year they were back in Cheyenne to televise the Final of that rodeo. They contacted me and asked me to be a broadcast commentator for the production. That fateful day was July 30, 1989. I interviewed several rodeo cowboys including 1987 World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost before the show started. Lane was killed that day and it just so happened that I was the last person to ever interview him on camera. I broke down and cried like a little baby after the rodeo. After a few years, Prime Sports Network was purchased by Fox Sports Network. I announced Cheyenne Frontier Days for nine consecutive years.

What is the hardest part about being a rodeo announcer?

Rodeo announcing was a cinch to me. I have the gift of gab and was a natural at it. I have never had any sense of pressure while announcing a rodeo. I really enjoy it.

You are also an author. Tell us about the books you have published. What are they about?

The first book is about bull riding and a rodeo career. A co-worker, Treisha Kong-Rodney, at the financial services company who loved to read and literally bugged and bugged me until I finally sat down and started to write my personal story. She had already convinced me that I have a very unique story and I needed to put it in writing. The only reason I started writing was she would not leave me alone. Now I am glad that she was so persistent. It is called My Cowboy Hat Still Fits.

I wrote my second book because I was constantly sharing my divorce and custody issues with my publisher Annette Chaudet from Greybull, Wyoming and she convinced me that I needed to write it as well. She told me up front that she would publish it, as well. I was granted permanent custody of my son Justin and he moved to Colorado to live with me in August 2008. Justin graduated from Seton Hall University in December with a degree in journalism. He now lives and works in New Jersey writing the sports column for a New Jersey newspaper. This book is called Justin: A Father’s Fight for His Son.

A current friend and co-worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs convinced me that I needed to write one more autobiography and I recently started one in March. I honestly had no desire to write another autobiography. Annette is going to publish that one, as well. I hope to have it finished by the end of this year and get it published sometime in 2022.

What is now your full-time job?

My full-time job is at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Denver, Colorado. I have been there for seven years. I input and process new applications for health benefits for the spouses and children of veterans who have been injured while serving in the military. I am in the data entry department that verifies if candidates are eligible and qualify for benefits based on a series of criteria.

You have now ventured into a new line of business: baking and selling cookies. How did a bull riding cowboy get into baking and selling cookies?

I started baking chocolate chip cookies right after I graduated from college at the University of Wyoming in 1980. The only reason I started baking chocolate chip cookies was because my sister Janice baked them a lot when we were growing up. I love chocolate chip cookies and realized the only way I was going to have access to them on a regular basis was to bake them myself. I started baking chocolate chip cookies around 1981-82 when I lived in Laramie, Wyoming. I tweaked my recipe multiple times over the years.

In the fall of 1994, I was still recovering from my hip injury when I met Mike Bond (deceased) at the Pulse Health Club. We played racquetball and soon became lifelong friends. One day I gave him a couple of my cookies. He loved them. Mike invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner with his folks and I asked him what I should bring. He suggested cookies. Everyone loved them. My cookies and I became a regular fixture at his family functions for several years. As soon as I showed up, people would tear into them before we even sat down to dinner.

I started passing cookies out to friends at the health club and one lady bugged me for the recipe. I told Mike I was going to give her the recipe so she would leave me alone. Mike’s exact words were “No Way. Do you realize you could mass market these cookies?” Until that day mass marketing had never even crossed my mind. That was over 20 years ago and since then I have given away over 1,000 homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Fast forward to the VA. My co-workers would gang up on me on a regular basis and ask when I was going to launch my cookie business. I finally officially launched it in 2019.

I took all the proper steps. I have attended a Colorado food certification class and have a business license.

What is your best-selling cookie?

I now have four varieties of cookies. In a few months I plan to add one more variety. I bake chocolate chip cookies with or without pecans and oatmeal now.

I just started that one in December 2020. I give credit for that recipe idea to Chris and Michelle Risoli. I stayed with them during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December 2020. I also bake a cinnamon snicker doodle with white chocolate chips. I plan to add a lemon cookie version in a couple more months. My most popular cookie is the chocolate chip cookie with pecans. Don Gay, the eight-time PRCA World Champion Bull Rider says that my chocolate chip cookies are absolutely the best. Lots of other rodeo cowboys, women and fans LOVE my cookies.

How can people get your cookies?

My websites are www.abemorris.com and www. cowboychuteoutcookies.com. My business phone is (303)337- 6554. I do not plan on establishing a way to mass market the cookies until I retire from my full-time VA job in two more years. Then I will bake and market the cookies as much as possible. The name of my business is Cowboy Chute Out Cookies. Right now, I attend various western sports events and sell cookies there.

What advice would you give young men going into bull riding regarding the sport and after their career is over?

Bull riding is a very dangerous sport and the competition window does not last long. Riders need to have a backup plan in order to survive and pay the bills long after their careers are over and done with.

I also want to recognize the importance of sponsors for our sport. I have been fortunate to have had a close relationship with Jeff Chadwick with Wrangler and Kerry Vastine with Roper Western Wear.

Photos provided courtesy of Abe Morris.