Has Anyone Ever Rode All 10 Bulls at the NFR? Yes – three Cowboys have gone 10-for-10 in the NFR: Jim Sharp (1988), Norman Curry (1990), and Adriano Morris (1994). See the full record and why no one has since.
Yes – but only three riders have done it. . Under the modern ten-round format, exactly three men have ridden all 10 of their bulls to the eight-second whistle at the National Finals Rodeo: Jim Sharp in 1988 (the first to do it),
Norman Curry in 1990, and Adriano Moraes in 1994. No one has repeated the feat, and it has been more than 30 years since Mora’s count. 2025 NFR
- Yes – but only three riders have done so. Under the modern ten-round format, Jim Sharp (1988), Norman Curry (1990) and Adriano Morris (1994) each rode all 10 of their NFR bulls. Source: Wrangler NFR Records (ESPN).
- Jim Sharp was first, in 1988 – winning the average and his first world title in a single race, then setting the still-standing record of 23 straight NFR rides (1987 – 89). Source: The Cowboy Channel.
- No one has done it since 1994 – a drought of 31 years and counting through the 2025 NFR.
- It is a myth that only two riders have done so. Adriano Moraes (1994), not Norman Curry (1990), holds the most recent perfect run. Many articles get this wrong.
- Modern proof of how hard it is: The NFR average is now won on only 7-8 bulls. In 2025, T.J. Gray won as the only rider to cover 7 of 10. Source: SI/FanNation.
- Even the greatest of the modern era fell short: seven-time world champion Sage Kimzey (60% career cover) never went more than 8 out of 10 in a final.
Table of Contents
| 3 | 1994 | 31 |
|---|---|---|
| Riders ever 10-for-10 | Last time it happened | Years since (through 2025) |
What “riding all 10 bulls” actually means
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the season-ending championship of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). It has been held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas since 1959, and since 1985 (the 2020 edition moved to Arlington, Texas, during the pandemic). Each December, the top 15 money winners in each event qualify, then compete in ten rounds – one per night.
In bull riding, this means that a cowboy mounts a different bull each night for ten nights. To “ride all 10,” he must cover each of those ten bulls for a full eight seconds without touching any of the animals or himself with his free hand and without bending over. The nation’s stock contractors can provide ten consecutive authentic rides against ten rated bulls. Going 10 for 10 is the equivalent of a flawless championship series.
The Complete Record: Everyone Who Has Gone 10-for-10
When Jim Sharp of Kermit, Texas, covered his tenth bull on the final afternoon of the 1988 NFR, he became the first rider in the event’s history to do so. Sports Illustrated noted at the time that no one in the previous three decades – not Jim Shoulders, not Don Gay, not Larry Mahan – had ever managed it. Sharp averaged and won his first world title in the same run.
Two years later, Norman Curry matched him in 1990. Four years after that, Brazilian star Adriano Moraes did it on his way to the NFR average title in his first PRCA season in 1994 – he would go on to win three PBR World Championships. Those three are the entire list under the ten-round format.
Every rider to cover all his NFR bulls
| Year | Rider | Bulls covered | Same-year result | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Jim Sharp | 10 / 10 | Average + 1st World Title | First rider ever to do it |
| 1990 | Norman Curry | 10 / 10 | NFR average contender | Second to accomplish it |
| 1994 | Adriano Moraes | 10 / 10 | NFR average title | Most recent; later 3× PBR champ |
| 1963 | Leo Brown | 8 / 8 | – | Shorter early-NFR format (not 10 rounds) |
Historical footnote: The NFR did not always run ten rounds. Record holders credit Leo Brown with riding all eight of his bulls at the 1963 NFR, before the modern ten-round structure was in place. Source: Wrangler NFR Record Book (ESPN).
How rare is it, really? The modern ceiling
The most obvious way to get a sense of the difficulty is to look at what the NFR bull riding average wins today – the overall title that goes to the rider who scores the most points over ten rounds. In the modern era, you don’t need anywhere near ten rides to win it. You need to be the last man standing.
Sources: NFR Experience (2017), NFR Experience (2019), SI/FanNation (2025).
Read those bars slowly. In 2017, Sage Kimze won with an average of 7 out of 10. In 2018, Chase Dougherty won with a 7. In 2019, Kimze got it with an 8 – his best performance ever in a final. And in 2025, T.J. Gray won the average and a reserve world title, covering just seven riders in the entire field. When seven or eight riders win the whole thing, ten is not a consistent goal – it’s another planet.
Why Riding All 10 Is So Brutally Hard?
Three forces stand against a perfect race, and they meet in ten nights.
The stock is elite – and bred to win
NFR bulls are the world’s best buckers, chosen by stock contractors specifically because they are difficult to ride. Decades of selective breeding have produced animals that are faster, stronger, and more athletic than the bulls of the 1980s. The job description of the rider has not changed. The opponent has improved dramatically.
Ride percentages are low by nature
Bull riding is the least “coverable” event in rodeo. A useful metric: Norman Curry – a rider good enough to go 10-for-10 in the finals – still finished his career covering fewer than 40 percent of the bulls in all of the competition. Even Kimzey’s elite career mark is around 60 percent. Combining the top ten qualified riders, at the end of the draw rankings, runs counter to those base rates.
Ten nights of accumulating risk
A perfect run is a matter of probability. If a great rider covers 70% of the hard bulls, the probability of getting ten straight is about 0.70 to the tenth power – less than 3%. Push that to a phenomenal 80%, and you’re still barely above 10%. And that math doesn’t assume that no disaster, no injury, and no bad luck recurs over ten consecutive December nights. Fatigue, soreness, and a hangover can quickly end that streak.
Case study: Jim Sharp’s 1988 run
Sharp’s 1988 finale is the template. He arrived in Las Vegas as one of the sport’s most consistent riders – he estimated he’d only taken out 15 of the roughly 120 bulls he’d trained that season. He’d already clinched the world title before the final round, which meant his tenth ride wasn’t for a gold buckle at all. It was for history.
He got it. And the consistency wasn’t a one-week stretch: In three consecutive finals from 1987 to 1989, Sharp recorded 23 consecutive bulls at the NFR – a streak that still stands as a monument to the “all 10 rides” demand. He won a second world title in 1990 and ended his career as a co-founder of the PBR and a near-consensus pick among the greatest bull riders ever to live.
What The Aggregate Scores Tell Us?
Three perfect runs didn’t make for the most points in NFR bull riding history – a reminder that going 10-for-10 is about consistency, not necessarily monster scores. The record books put all three aggregates at around 800 points per ten-head (near 771 in 1988; near 800 in 1990; near 773 in 1994), with small gaps between the record holders.
For single-ride context, the highest-scoring bull ride in NFR history is Cody Hancock’s 96 points in 2001 – a peak attempt number, not a ten-round average. A perfect run lives on the other side of the ledger: never spectacular on any one night, never lacking on any of them.
2025 Results & The Road To 2026
At the 2025 NFR, Stetson Wright won the Bull Riding World Championship (and his tenth PRCA world title overall). The average went to T.J. Gray, who covered 7 of 10 – the only rider in the field to reach that mark – and rode him to the reserve world title. Previous recent world champions: J.W. Harris (2023) and Josh Frost (2024).
The 2026 NFR is scheduled for December 2026 at the Thomas & Mack Center. As of this update, it has not been contested, so any talk of who might finally break the streak is a projection, not a result.
What The Perfect 10 Means For Rodeo?
Three decades of time say something honest about the sport: Bulls have improved faster than riders. That’s not a knock on today’s cowboys, who are stronger and better trained than any generation before them. It’s a measure of how far the breeding of bucking bulls has come. Sharp, Curry, and Moraes caught a specific window – elite riders meeting stock that was at a level but not yet at today’s maximum – and did it just right.
That’s why the question keeps being asked every December. A perfect ten isn’t a record that falls every few years like an earnings mark or a single-ride score. It’s a line in the sand of another era, and every NFR is a live test of whether the modern game can still surpass it.
Frequently Asked Questions: Has Anyone Ever Rode All 10 Bulls at the NFR?
Who was the first bull rider to ride all 10 bulls at the NFR?
Jim Sharp did it in 1988, becoming the first cowboy to ride all 10 and winning the world title that same year.
Has anyone else done it since Jim Sharp?
Yes – twice. Norman Curry rode all 10 in 1990, and Adriano Moraes accomplished the feat in 1994. Moraes’ run is the most recent. No one has gone 10-for-10 since.
Why is it so hard to ride all 10 bulls?
Because NFR stock contractors select the toughest bulls in the world, and riders must last the full 8 seconds without a fall or disqualification every time.
Is it true only two riders have ever done it?
No, that’s a common mistake. Three Raiders have gone 10-for-10 under the ten-round format: Sharpe (1988), Curry (1990), and Morris (1994).
How many bulls does it take to win the NFR average now?
Usually just 7 or 8. In 2025, T.J. Gray averaged 7 out of 10 as the only rider to cover. Sage Kimzee’s best finish ever was 8 out of 10 in 2019.
What did the perfect runs score?
About a high 700 to 800 points on ten heads – not the highest total in NFR history. A perfect run is about never backing down, not about big individual scores.
Sources And References
- ProRodeo Hall of Fame – “Jim Sharp.” prorodeohalloffame.com (first to ride all 10; two world titles).
- Wrangler NFR Records (ESPN) – “Arena Records.” espn.com (only men to ride all NFR bulls: Moraes 1994, Curry 1990, Sharp 1988, Leo Brown 8 bulls 1963; Cody Hancock 96-pt record).
- Wikipedia – “Adriano Morães.” en.wikipedia.org (third man to ride 10-for-10, 1994; three PBR titles).
- The Cowboy Channel – “NFR’s Most Memorable Moments: Jim Sharp Goes 10 for 10.” thecowboychannel.com (23 straight rides, 1987–89).
- Sports Illustrated Vault – “Ride ‘Em, Cowboy” (Dec 19, 1988). vault.si.com (contemporary account of Sharp’s run).
- PBR Ring of Honor – “Jim Sharp.” pbr.com (career riding percentage; first to cover all 10).
- The Team Roping Journal – “Rodeo’s Super Bowl Celebrates 50 Years.” teamropingjournal.com (aggregate points for the three perfect runs).
- Yardbarker – NFR arena/aggregate records (Dec 2025). yardbarker.com (Curry 1990 aggregate).
- The Official NFR Experience – Sage Kimzey average results 2017 & 2019. 2017, 2019.
- Sports Illustrated / FanNation Rodeo – “T.J. Gray… 2025 NFR Ram Top Gun.” si.com (2025: 7-of-10 average win).
- The Official NFR Experience – “Past Winners.” nfrexperience.com (2023–2025 world champions).
- Probullstats – “Norman Curry.” probullstats.com (career riding percentage).