In 2001, the Amarillo Globe-News named Larry Dawson the region's top football player of the 1950s.

Larry Dawson

Larry Dawson played football at Stinnett and TCU until he discovered rodeo. At TCU, Dawson played football, rodeoed, and wrestled. Dawson lettered three years at TCU; he quarterbacked the Horned Frogs to Southwest Conference championships in 1958 and 1959.

His specialties were steer wrestling and bull riding; he reached the national collegiate finals twice. During his senior season at TCU, he won the Fort Worth Regional Golden Gloves heavyweight title.

Dawson signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1961, but during training camp decided to go back to school.

He competed on the professional rodeo circuit for at least 40 years, qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo in steer wrestling in 1976. In 2000, Amarillo Tri-State Exposition named him Cowboy of the Year.

He spent countless hours coaching rodeo enthusiasts of all ages and provided horses to those who otherwise would not get to compete. Dawson served as the director of steer wrestling for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and as the president of the Tri-State High School Rodeo.