First-Time Dad’s Excited for Father’s Day

Bareback rider Tilden Hooper is leading the PRCA | RAM World Standings and searching for his first world title.

Dakota Eldridge is a six-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and trying to make a seventh trip to the Finals, sitting 10th in the world standings as of June 15. He too is looking for his first gold buckle.

But both cowboys are experiencing a different kind of first on Sunday, June 19, a first Father’s Day as a dad.

Hooper and his wife, Melissa, will be celebrating with their son, Tell McLain, who was born in January.

“I don’t feel pressure to provide as much as I feel pressure to be a good father and husband,” Hooper told ProRodeo Sports News recently.

Eldridge and his wife, Quincy, will be getting ready to celebrate their daughter’s first birthday as the 2021 regular season winds up its final month. Sally Lou will be 1 in September, and Eldridge is finding it harder to leave his little girl.

“Everybody tells you how babies will soften you up and it gets harder to leave,” he said in an interview with PSN. “It wasn’t that big of a deal at first, but now she has a personality and is almost walking. She knows who you are now, so it is tough to take off.”

To read more about Hooper and Eldridge and Father’s Day, check out the June 11, 2021, edition of ProRodeo Sports News.

Courtesy of PRCA