The Heart of a Lion
LEO CAMARILLO has had as big a hand as anyone in the evolution of the team roping event. He won four world team roping titles in 1972-73, ’75 and ’83, and a record six Wrangler National Finals Rodeo team roping average championships. Camarillo co-owns the 1975 world all-around championship with Tom Ferguson, and is a two-time winner of the Timed Event Championship. The Lion’s career calling card was his ferocious competitive nature. His heart and try are legendary, and it’s a good thing. Those very traits saved the Lion’s life when a heart attack hit the Hall of Famer last fall.
HERE’S HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN, IN THE WORDS OF A LIVING LEGEND.
It all went down the day before Thanksgiving, which was November 27, 2019. I went to work driving a water truck on an I-10 construction job in Arizona, just like I did every day for the last two years. I go to work in the dark at 6 in the morning, because the water truck driver has to be the first guy to get there and the last guy to leave. I got my load of water and started doing my rounds.
About 9 that morning, I went over to the Flying J Truck Stop that’s right there by the job
