Glen Keeley

Glen Keeley (March 20, 1970 – March 24, 2000) was a Canadian professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He competed in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA), Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Bull Riders Only (BRO), and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) circuits. He won the CPRA national bull riding championship in 1989.

Keeley was the first bull rider to die from injuries sustained at a PBR event.

Life and career Glen Keeley was born on March 20, 1970 in Nanton, Alberta.

In 1983 he won the CPRA national steer riding championship at the age of 13.

In 1989 he won the CPRA national bull riding championship at the age of 19.

Keeley had been talking and joking with the nurses when he arrived at the hospital. At five feet, seven inches tall, he was one of the smaller riders on the Bud Light Cup Tour. By contrast, Promiseland was a massive bull, weighing over 900 kilograms. Despite wearing a mandatory protective vest, the bull's stomping caused severe damage. As it turned out, Keeley also broke some ribs, suffered a punctured lung, and lacerated his liver. Up to that point, his vitals were fine. He then went into surgery, but bled to death on the operating table before the surgeons could repair his internal damage. He was ranked ninth in the PBR world standings at the time of his death, and the money he had won up to that point would have been enough to qualify him for the PBR World Finals. Promiseland was not considered a mean bull, and the incident was accepted as a "freak accident".

Six days after his death almost 1,500 people paid their respects to Keeley at his memorial service. He was survived by his parents, sister and five brothers who were all bull riders at one time or another.

Keeley's remains were cremated and his ashes were spread on a hillside overlooking his family ranch in Stavely, Alberta.

Four months after Keeley's death, fellow Canadian bull rider Chris Self died after sustaining serious injuries at the Medicine Hat, Alberta, rodeo.

Promiseland's career continued until his last event at the Tuff Hedeman Championship Challenge in March 2003. He lived the rest of his life in retirement.

Honours After Keeley's death PBR bull riders wore a memorial sticker on their protective vests for the remainder of the 2000 season. All the proceeds from the non-profit event are donated to the Glen Keeley Benevolent & Scholarship Fund.

In 2017 Keeley was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

List of Glen Keeley Memorial Bull Riding champions 2004 Tanner Girletz 2005 Tanner Girletz 2006 Scott Schiffner 2007 Chad Besplug 2008 Tyler Thomson 2009 Beau Hill 2010 Chad Besplug 2011 Tanner Girletz 2012 Josh Birks 2013 Tanner Byrne 2014 Josh Birks 2015 Jesse Torkelson 2016 Devon Mezei 2017 Zane Lambert (tie) 2017 Jared Parsonage (tie) 2018 Zane Lambert 2019 Aaron Roy 2020 Dakota Buttar 2021 Nick Tetz 2022 Wyatt Gleeson 2023 Ashton Sahli 2024 Jordan Hansen (tie) 2024 Coy Robbins (tie) 2025 Jared Parsonage