Williams Family Shares Special Moment at Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo

Legendary team roper Speed Williams returned to PRCA competition on Thursday, helping his son, Gabe, pick up his first ProRodeo paycheck.

Gabe Williams, right, got the opportunity to rope with his father, Speed Williams, at the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo on Thursday, tying for second in the first go. / Courtesy of Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo

The grin let Speed Williams know something was up. 

Over breakfast with his son, Gabe, at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, Speed got an unexpected call that he couldn’t comprehend. Why was he being told by the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo that his request to compete in the team roping had been approved? 

Gabe’s mischievous expression gave it away.

“My sister is the one who did the entering for me – and we didn’t even tell my dad that we were entered,” Gabe admits with a laugh. 

As a team roping header competing on his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association permit for the first time, Gabe was ready to sign up for the Odessa, Texas, event with fellow permit competitor Trigger Hargrove. That is until he and his sister, breakaway roper Hali Williams, started reading the fine print. 

The Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo requires that any team roping duo consist of only one cowboy on their permit, meaning Gabe and Hargrove couldn’t rope together. Speed was being called into action. He just didn’t know it. 

“I bought my card as a backup plan in case he needed me to go to a few places around the house. I figured I might have to go around with him a little bit to try to help him fill his permit and get his card done,” Speed said. “I believe it’s been over 30 years since I’ve won a check heeling in the PRCA.”

On Thursday, the Williams boys got the job done in Round 1, finishing in 4.8 seconds to tie for second, earning each of them $1,536. 

Welp, my first heeling check at a rodeo in 30 years… Gabe and I won 2nd in the first round at Odessa. Better yet, Gabe filled his permit at his first pro rodeo. Results will be in the comments. #SpeedRoping #SpeedTrainer #teamroping #roping #heading #heeling #rodeo #cowboys #breakawayroping @priefert @tophandropes @coatssaddlery @bloomertrailers @coastalsteelstructures @iconoclast @totalfeed @relianceranches @hbcwildwood @smartytraining

Posted by Speed Williams Team Roping on Wednesday, January 8, 2025

It was a whirlwind moment that certainly created a lot of buzz at ProRodeo’s first big event of 2025. Speed, winner of eight consecutive team roping header World Titles from 1997-2004, made the move from heeler to header in 1988 before embarking on that historic stretch. He qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo 15 times during his Hall of Fame career, retiring from full-time competition in 2009 to focus on his family and business. 

Now, his son is trying to follow in those footsteps. 

Gabe started his rodeo journey as a heeler but has switched his focus to heading in recent years out of necessity. A genetic defect that causes a bone in his arm to overgrow has limited his ability to swing a more stiff heeling rope and developing a plan for surgery has proven difficult. 

The issue has forced him to adapt. It also forced his father to return to his roots. 

“I will say, heeling is a whole lot less work. Man, I don’t have to go see what the draw is, the number, the track record on the cow. You’ve just got to start when he nods his head, put them in the left lead and throw my rope when he switches,” Speed joked. 

While Speed knows there will probably be a few more events later this winter that require him to run with Gabe, he’s quick to dismiss any notions of a full on comeback. A lot of people in Odessa razzed him on Thursday, celebrating his return to the PRCA. But with a booming business, and two up-and-coming professional rodeo athletes in the family tree, he’s got more than enough to keep him busy. 

Even if the return is short lived, it’s a moment Gabe is certainly grateful to have experienced. 

“I tell you, it was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do,” Gabe said. “I’ve always roped with him at amateur rodeos and jackpots, which has been cool. But to be able to earn my permit with my dad, that’s going to be something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”