Burt Reynolds - just may be our biggest fan
By Charlie Barnes, Executive Director - Seminole Boosters
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Burt Reynolds shares a laugh with Bobby Bowden and NC State Head |
At its heart, it is the story of a love affair.
Burt Reynolds is one of the best guys ever. Much better even than you think. If Bobby Bowden’s professional life is the story of Seminole football’s ascent to greatness, then Burt Reynolds’ is the story of the maturing of our alumni, and of their passion and lifelong commitment to FSU.
Our fans and alumni know that Burt is an actor and an alumnus who has been involved with the university. Most have little idea who the man really is, and to what extent his life reflects all that is good and noble about FSU.
Burton “Buddy” Reynolds was a highly recruited high school star from West Palm who committed informally to Miami, but was turned toward FSU by Seminole Coach Tom Nugent. Another man who influenced his decision was his close friend from high school, a Seminole baseball player named Dick Howser. Nugent jested with the young Reynolds that FSU wanted him so bad they had named a freshman girls’ dorm on campus in his honor. “Reynolds Hall – my own dorm filled with beautiful women!” he said, smiling at the memory.
Nugent was in his second season as the Seminole Head Coach, and FSU was quickly upgrading its schedule to that of a major college program. Our little Seminole team was truly a David against the Goliaths of the SEC and Coach Nugent knew the Tribe needed a serious upgrade in talent. His recruiting of halfback Buddy Reynolds and quarterback Lee Corso was part of that project.
Decades later, the smiling, graying men of that era still proudly refer themselves “Nugent’s Boys.” The Boys went 8-3 that year against very tough competition, and in fact Nugent’s innovative passing offense set what was then a national record for the number of touchdown passes in one season with nineteen.
Burt was a star from the first day he arrived on campus. He bypassed the freshman team directly to be made a member of the varsity and a starter. In recording a bitter loss to Auburn, the FSU yearbook Tally Ho described, “Freshman left halfback Buddy Reynolds almost turned the trick for the Seminoles in the third quarter. He broke through left tackle and dashed for 54 yards.” Unfortunately, as he crossed the goal line Burt was knocked cold by Tiger defensive back and future Alabama governor Fob James.
Spring came to Tallahassee. One day in practice Burt went up to catch a ball and came down awkward on his knee. As simple as that, his football career was finished. Oh, he tried to re-habilitate, made an attempt to come back later, but the intricacies of knees were still mysteries in that earlier day. It was over.
He told me once, “If I hadn’t busted my knee I’d be a high school football coach in West Palm today.” He sounded as if that would have been a fine outcome as far as he’s concerned. He is and was a man at peace with himself.
Those who’ve seen his movies know Reynolds is clever. Few realize that he is such a devoted academic and intellectual. As Coach Bowden’s assistant through all of the 1980s and 1990s, Sue Hall developed a close relationship with Reynolds. “You would not believe the size of his personal library,” she says. “Entire walls of shelves of books. It’s not unusual for him to read a book a day. Every night he falls asleep listening to books on tape, but don’t ask me how I know that,” she laughs.
And what feeds that voracious appetite? History, art, architecture, social commentary, the classics. “Burt told me he acquired his appreciation of fine art and literature from his close friend Dinah Shore,” Sue says. “He has an amazing mind. I’ve been fortunate to be on movie sets while he’s working. He reads the script at night, memorizes it, and knows it cold the next day. I’ve never seen him ask for a prompter. He’s modest about it; says it’s all due to the training, but I’ve never seen anyone who could absorb that amount of material that fast. He is an extremely gifted man in terms of his intellect.”
Reynolds tries to come to at least one game a year, usually watching from Bobby Bowden’s private office where he can see the action unfold and then watch the replays on TV. “He’s a real student of the game,” Hall said. “I always try to send him media guides at the beginning of each season. He never needs a script for the Great Moments segments. He remembers just about everything that has ever happened in Seminole football.”
Joel Padgett believes that Reynolds was the first Hollywood star to aggressively promote his alma mater in film. If you’ll think about it, he really is still the only one who does that to any extent. Hall remembers, “We used to send him boxes and boxes of stuff all the time. He wanted something in every movie. It might be coffee cups on the desk, or waste baskets or game jerseys or sweatshirts; anything with FSU on it got crowded into the set. We just cleaned out the office whenever Burt called.”
And it wasn’t just FSU jerseys and sweatshirts that popped up across the landscape of Reynolds’ signature series of movies. Reynolds once had his pal, actor Dom DeLuise, play a character named Doctor Victor Prinzi. Vic Prinzi of course was Florida State’s long time radio commentator, partner to Gene Deckerhoff. Prinzi was also one of Nugent’s Boys, and Burt’s quarterback.
Hall recalls the Bobby Bowden episode of Reynolds’ hit TV series Evening Shade. “It got a lot more involved with television. I had to go find Tommy Wright here on campus and get notarized permission for Burt to use the FSU Fight Song.”
Reynolds’ relationship with Bowden goes deeper than many realize. “Coach Bowden and Burt talk a lot about religion,” Sue says. “I get the impression that Burt…” she searches for the right words, “used to have a reputation for enjoying parties…” She believes that Bowden’s close relationship has made a substantial difference in Reynolds’ spiritual life.
Bowden has mentioned that he and Reynolds designed the arrow helmet together. Monk Bonasorte was an FSU safety and All-American who now directs the fabulously successful Varsity Club program. “Back in 1979 when I played, our uniforms were actually in kind of poor condition. They were patched up because uniforms were expensive and the school didn’t have a lot of money,” he says. “Burt bought the first set of gold pants – they were actually called Notre Dame gold. It was the first time we’d had new uniforms in awhile.” Reynolds bought the first set of all-garnet uniforms too, and had some of his Hollywood pals tweak the design.
Monk is close to Reynolds now. He describes Burt as unfailingly charming, a splendid looking man. He still has quite a bit of The Bandit in his smile, but once in awhile you can also see those dangerous eyes from his character in Deliverance. “He’s a complicated guy,” says Monk, “but he’s the best.”
Yes, the best.
Had Reynolds not been such a great football player out of high school, he and Bobby Bowden might have met sooner. The talented Reynolds bypassed FSU’s freshman team entirely. In those days the freshman squad plus walk-ons and whoever else could fill in from the varsity played its own schedule of games. One of their regular opponents was South Georgia Junior College in Douglas, a team whose new 24-year-old Head Coach was also required by the school to drive the team bus and to coach basketball as well. But it was not time yet for Bowden and Reynolds to cross paths.
I first met him in 1987 at the lavish Seminole Booster “Bernie & The Bandit” production enjoyed by the thousands of fans who crowded into the Tucker Center the Friday before the first home game. Burt brought some pals with him, including actors Dom DeLuise, Bernie Casey and Ricardo Montalban to be his guests at the official dedication of Burt Reynolds Hall.
It was a heady time for the Seminoles and although we didn’t realize it, it was the first game of the first season of the fourteen year Dynasty. But as I watched I also remembered the Baylor game back in 1974, a miserable night in a miserable season in which FSU defeated only one opponent: the hapless Miami Hurricanes. We played Baylor at home in October. “The Longest Yard” had been released in the summer was a huge hit, and Burt Reynolds was in Tallahassee to watch the game. He was introduced to the wildly enthusiastic crowd, standing at mid-field with his friend, the gigantic Richard Keil another actor in the movie.
Burt Reynolds was pretty much all we had in those days. I don’t think anyone knew at the time how important it was to Burt that he had us as well. This past fall, Reynolds was again introduced to the crowd in Doak Campbell Stadium, this 2004 collection of Seminole fans somewhat larger than the one thirty years ago. Once again, he brought fellow actors with him including the gigantic fellow who plays the old Richard Keil character in this current remake of “The Longest Yard.”
At that 1987 meeting we discussed the details of the weekend, including the dramatic pre-game surprise where Reynolds would throw the flaming spear into the turf. I was impressed with his size; he’s big. For some reason most Hollywood actors tend to be on the small side. Reynolds looked more like a bodyguard or stunt man than an actor. You can see the athlete.
He made quite a show of it. Chief Osceola handed him the burning spear at mid-field. Reynolds stood facing the alumni side of the stadium then raised the spear triumphantly overhead. The crowd roared. Then he turned to the student side and did the same. Fans were in frenzy when he finally rammed the fiery point into the turf.
At a distance, no one could see the emotion on his face. But whatever it meant to us, it meant even more to him.
I saw him another time after that, years later in Palm Beach. He was a surprise visitor to the Palm Beach Seminole Club’s annual Bobby Bowden Banquet. We were back stage getting ready for him to make his appearance. It wasn’t the best time in his personal or professional life. He was holding his little son. He looked tired. I said I didn’t want to intrude, but I wanted him to know that there are lots of us FSU alumni who love him and appreciate what he’s done for the University, and that fans like the ones here tonight will always be there for you. You can always come home to Florida State.
His voice cracked just a little. He said that his relationship with the fans gave him strength, and that was why he was there, that he needed now to draw on that strength.
Of course once the curtain went up and the hundreds of Seminoles whooped in shocked surprised, he was the ultimate professional. He was classic celebrity Burt, the personality so familiar to everyone. He and Coach Bowden shared the microphone. After our traveling party packed in the van to drive to the airport, Burt stayed behind for nearly an hour, patiently taking photos, smiling, talking football and anything else his fans wanted.
They crushed in to be close to him, just to be with him. And he wanted to be with them.
He loved FSU from the time he first saw the red bricks and the rolling hills and towering pines at age eighteen. He loved the cool, green campus and the scented spring breeze and the pretty girls in their bright dresses. He loved football and Phi Delta Theta and the food in the big dining hall where all Florida State students took their meals together. He liked knowing everyone and knowing that everyone liked him.
Burton Reynolds was a devoted Seminole long before he was Burt Reynolds of the movies, decades before he was the #1-ranked male box office draw in the world. And now, in the afternoon of a celebrated career as an actor, teacher and director, he remains a completely devoted son of Florida State University.
From time to time something from him, always welcome just shows up in the mail. Most recently it was an autographed photo of him sporting the Mean Machine football uniform of his character from the new 2005 version of “The Longest Yard” charging full ahead with game-faced fury.
He’s written: “Charlie – Do you know anybody that would like a mean, not fat but not too swift sixty-six year old running back?”
Well yes, pal. Yes I do. And there are tens of thousands of us.