Gilmer native’s 36 years as pro rodeo announcer recognized
A Gilmer County native who’s cut a wide swath as professional rodeo announcer was recognized at the Georgia State Capitol just before 2020 drew to a close.
Sen. John Wilkinson, of the 50th District that includes Toccoa and Commerce, was behind Senate Resolution 951 recognizing Roger Mooney’s 36-year career in the rodeo industry.
“Roger’s extensive career and rise to becoming one of the country’s most renowned rodeo commentators is truly a testament to his unwavering work ethic,” said Wilkinson in a statement.
‘It all happened by chance’
Mooney, who announced the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, just last month, said his rodeo roots can be traced back to his time as a student at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
“It all happened by chance,” he remembered. “They had a college rodeo team and, the first college rodeo I was at, the announcer for the event had a heart attack en route. They came and said, ‘Who’s the biggest ham we’ve got?’ Nobody said anything. They just looked at me. While I was doing that gig, a fella came upstairs and asked me what I was doing next weekend. I was a freshman in college and did 40 rodeos my first year.”
To date, Mooney has announced the National Finals Rodeo four times and the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo — the country’s second most prestigious pro rodeo event, he said — a dozen times. There’s also been thousands of other professionally-sanctioned events, as well as numerous television appearances as an announcer and a voice-over talent for TV and radio commercials.
“I do my own booking and I’m an independent contractor. I work for, probably, 40 different companies. I’ve hosted Rodeo Roundup for the Outdoor Channel and worked for ESPN. Out of that 36 years, I’ve done TV and telecasts for around 30 of them. I’ve done radio and TV voice-overs for commercials for western stores, Dodge dealerships and rodeo events. I’m kind of a rent-a-cowboy,” he said.
A Georgia accent is somewhat of an anomaly in rodeo announcing, Mooney confided.
“We call it ‘the seek factor,’ meaning you sound different than what people in a certain place might hear on the radio before they hit the seek button and go to the next station. It’s like a hook,” he said.
“Years ago, I was told to just get a post office box in Texas and you’ll go to the national finals every year. I never did that, but here I am four times going to the national finals. I’m still a Georgia boy and, up to 2020, the only man east of the Mississippi River to be chosen as a national finals rodeo announcer. I’ve been really blessed and fortunate about that.”
Mooney doesn’t always limit himself to the announcer’s booth when calling the action.
“I announce in the arena a lot, sometimes on a horse. I’ve had a lot of different horses — Flash, Rolex, Elvis,” he said.
The national finals moved from Las Vegas to Arlington this year and, although the live crowd was greatly downsized, Mooney said he was honored to again be part of the event recognized as the Superbowl of professional rodeo.
“Globe Life Field is where the Texas Rangers play baseball. In cowboy terms, it’s a big barn that holds a lot of hay. It seats 55,000, and they allowed 15,000 paid this year because it was under COVID restrictions. At least they did get to have a signature event, and it did pay off $10 million to cowboys,” he noted.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and event restrictions having bigger live rodeo events tied down at the moment, Mooney doesn’t expect a full-on return to the arena until at least next spring.
“They’ve already canceled all (big events) in my world till April. The first one I’m supposed to come back to would be in Kissimmee, Fla. COVID has everything locked up. Nobody wants to invest 800,000 or $1 million and then have it canceled the day of the event,” he said.
Proud to be from Gilmer County
Mooney grew up and still lives in the Bucktown area. He’s a 1984 Gilmer High School (GHS) graduate and was a state FFA officer while at GHS.
“(Sen. Wilkinson) was executive secretary for Georgia FFA then. That’s how he knew me, because I was a state FFA officer,” Mooney said.
Many years later, the senator was impressed by how far the onetime Gilmer FFA representative had gone in the rodeo world.
“He couldn’t believe it when he saw me in Denver, announcing in front of 15,000 people three times a day. That’s how this resolution came about.”
Wilkinson said Mooney’s lighthearted personality brightens up any room he walks into.
“It was truly an honor to present Roger with this well-deserved recognition alongside his wife, Ashley, and two children,” the senator noted.
Mooney said it was an honor for him to be recognized at the Capitol, but it was particularly special for his son Cash, 10, and daughter, Morgan, 8.
“It was an honor for me and my family to be taken to the state Capitol in a time when they’re not even letting visitors in. I had the opportunity to watch my kids stand at the speaker’s and have their pictures made where the governor does his press conferences. They got to do something a lot of people don’t get to do. It’s cool for them because the next time they go by the Gold Dome, they can say ‘I’ve been in there,’” he noted.
There’s been plenty to keep Mooney busy at home the past several months, including tending to his family cattle farm.
“We run about 150 cows here,” he said. “My children are the seventh generation to live on the same farm. It’s really been a blessing to have spent more time with my family in the last 10 months than I have, probably in the last 10 years.”
When he returns to the rodeo circuit, Mooney will continue to proudly represent his hometown when calling events at some of the world’s most iconic sporting venues.
“The people are what really stands out for me. The travel is terrible, but the people are wonderful. I take a little piece of Gilmer County with me everywhere I go, whether it’s the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, the Cow Palace in San Francisco or Madison Square Garden in New York. I’m proud to be from here,” he said.