Madison119web

A
Rodeo Clowning
LEGEND
ERIN WILLIAMS
Lecile Harris, who was born on
November 6, 1936, in Lake Cormorant,
Mississippi, is a rodeo legend.
Just one mention of the word
“Lecile” around any rodeo circuit,
stadium, or stock show, and
without any reference to his last
name, people instantly know
exactly who is being referred to.
And although you will likely never hear him say it,
Lecile is a big deal. He has excelled in the rodeo
arena as both a rodeo clown and bullfighter over his
60-plus year career and has accumulated an array
of accolades behind his name, including being
named the PRCA Clown of the Year in 1992,
1994, 1995, and 1996, as well as being inducted into
the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
While watching him perform, it is apparent that
Lecile is totally in his element inside the arena.
However, according to him, his entrance into this
career came as a total surprise.
“It was the summer after I had just finished
high school and was on a football scholarship at
the University of Tennessee that me and a buddy
of mine went to a weekend rodeo that was about
20 miles away,” said Lecile. “It was an amateur thing
but we became interested in it and continued to go.”
At that particular rodeo, the bull riding section
was divided into two parts; one to start the rodeo
where competitors would ride, and the other to end
the rodeo where spectators could jump in and ride.
It is no surprise that Lecile, who has made a career
on being fearless and jumping at opportunities,
wanted to take a chance to ride.
“I didn’t even make it out of the chute good
before he bucked me off,” said Lecile. “It made me
mad so the next Sunday I went back and tried
again. I went back three or four Sundays for a
month and kept trying to ride one.”
On one of those Sundays, the bullfighter’s car
broke down causing him to be unable to make it to
the rodeo. Lecile mentioned that he had been
watching the way the bullfighters moved and
wanted to give it a try.
“My first thought that day was that these were
just local bulls and wouldn’t be that bad, and my
second thought was that the moves the bullfighters
made were similar in a way to the moves you make
playing football as far as being quick to jump and
light on your feet,” said Lecile.
Hometown madison • 33