The sports and entertainment world came together to remember and honor the life of Burt Reynolds, who passed away Thursday at the age of 82. Not only was Reynolds an accomplished movie and TV star for over 50 years, he was a very accomplished collegiate athlete at Florida State. Reynolds was a running back who played in the 50s but knee injuries forced him to leave the game and wound up taking acting classes. The rest, as they say, is history.
Another famous person from those 50s Florida State teams is ESPN College GameDay’s Lee Corso. Not only were Corso and Reynolds friends and teammates, they were college roommates. There are probably a lot of college stories about those two that can’t be told on TV but Corso took a moment to remember his dear friend.
Lee Corso takes a minute to remember the life of Burt Reynolds, his close friend of 64 years. pic.twitter.com/HoRmOUF2Ir
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 8, 2018
“Burt and I were close friends for 64 years. It started when we were teammates at Florida State. He was a good football player and he got hurt, hurt his knee, and he had to leave school. And while he was away from school, he took acting lessons and he really liked it and he came back to me and said, “Corse, I’m going to Hollywood and I’m going to be a movie star.” And I said, “Pfft, yeah yeah.” But he went, and he did. He was the world’s biggest movie star for years but he never forgot his old teammates at Florida State. I’m going to miss Burt, he was a close friend of mine in good and bad times. And bad times especially.”
The great thing about Burt Reynolds is that no matter who you are, everybody remembers at least one thing he has done. It may not be for the same thing but it’s something. It might be playing football at Florida State career, or his early TV career on Gunsmoke. It might be his rise to prominence in the 70s with Deliverance, The Longest Yard and Smokey and the Bandit, or his renaissance in the 90s with Boogie Nights. Or it may even be him owning a USFL and NASCAR team in the 80s. Either way, Burt Reynolds is going to be missed.
