Burt Reynolds reminisces on 1955 Sun Bowl game and trip to Juárez, Mexico

Movie star Burt Reynolds had fun in Juárez and played football in El Paso. The famous actor died Thursday at the age of 82.

Reynolds played for Florida State in the 1955 Sun Bowl game against Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso.

Reynolds returned to the Sun Bowl in 1977 as part of the broadcasting team. He talked to reporter Tom Butler about his 1955 Sun Bowl experience, and a trip to Juárez.

December 31, 1977, El Paso Times

By Tom Butler/El Paso Times

The star of such screen gridiron epics as “The Longest Yard” and the just released “Semi-Tough” winged into El Paso Friday and promptly declared that, at the age of 41, “I think I’ve played my last football game.”

For Burt Reynolds, it was a homecoming of sorts. He was a freshman end on the Florida State team that was swamped 47-20 by Texas Western in the 1955 Sun Bowl.

“They beat us pretty good,” recalled Reynolds, who played the entire game after starter Lee Corso was injured on the third play. “I think we left our game in Juarez the night before. We made some great plays over there, though.”

Arriving with Reynolds aboard Continental Airlines Flight 95 from Dallas was Vic Prinzi, a Tampa businessman who quarterbacked the Seminoles’ Sun Bowl team 23 years ago.

More:Burt Reynolds, 'Deliverance' star and devil-may-care Hollywood sex symbol, dies at 82

First time in Mexico

“Most of us hadn’t ever seen snow before,” Reynolds said of his earlier visit to El Paso. “And it was our first time in Mexico, definitely. I won’t tell you about the other first.”

This trip, the actor will be part of the CBS-TV broadcast team that also includes play-by-play announcer Pat Summerall and analyst Tom Brookshier. It will be Reynolds's first experience as a football color man.

“I’ve been on some Monday night shows in Atlanta with Dandy (Don Meredith) and (Howard) Cosell, who are good friends of mine, but that was just dropping into the booth to say hello.

"Tom and Pat asked me a few years ago if I’d do a game with them some time, and I told them if they ever did the Sun Bowl I’d like to,” Reynolds said. “I was supposed to do it last year, but couldn’t.”

'I've done my homework'

A relaxed performer on screen and a good ol’ boy in the Meredith tradition, Reynolds appeared confident on the eve of his first commentator’s assignment.

“I’ve done my homework and I hope I don’t make a fool out of myself,” he said. “I do a heck of a job when I’m sitting at home.”

On hand to greet Reynolds at El Paso International Airport shortly after 4 p.m. were Sun Bowl television chairman Jimmy Rogers and 30-year-old Kenny Key, a 32-inch-tall El Pasoan who was introduced to the star as “the world’s smallest man.”

“I’ve felt like that myself sometimes,” Reynolds grinned as he shook Key’s hand.

More:Burt Reynolds played football in '55 Sun Bowl, member of '77 CBS broadcast team in El Paso

Crowds try to catch a glimpse of actor

Crowds of holiday travelers anxious to catch a glimpse of the actor were disappointed. Instead of deplaning through the concourse boarding area, Reynolds was whisked directly to a Continental employees’ cafeteria on the runway level.

As he walked from the plane, a fellow passenger – Gail Sera of Grants, N.M. – prevailed upon Reynolds to pose with her for a snapshot. She thrust a blue Polaroid into a reporter’s hands, said, “It’s ready to go,” and flung an arm around Reynolds’ waist. He smiled and posed courteously.

“Doesn’t that kind of thing ever got old?” he was asked.

“Yeah, it gets to you.”

Reynolds not happy with new film

While a clutch of female airline employees stared from outside the cafeteria, Reynolds sat at a table and talked about his most recent film, “Semi-Tough,” the less-than-factual adaptation of Dan Jenkins’ bestselling comic novel about pro football.

“No, I’m not really happy with the movie,” Reynolds said. “For one thing, the language was a little rough as afar as the girl (Jill Clayburgh) was concerned. Also, I missed not getting to know the other guys on the team; it’s all (costar Kris) Kristofferson and I.”

Reynolds, who plays quarterback Billy Clyde Puckett in the film, did much of his own running and passing for the cameras – and suffered his share of lumps and bruises from tacklers.

“I think I’ve played my last football game," he smiled. “You know, I hear (LSU running back Charles) Alexander has 4.2 speed in the 40. It takes me that long to get out of a chair.”

Looking forward to game

Looking forward to Saturday’s Sun Bowl clash between LSU and Stanford, Reynolds declined to pick a winner. “It out to be a heck of a game. Both of them score a lot of points.”

Some 30 minutes after their arrival, Reynolds and Prinzi were driven by limousine to the Granada Royale Hometel, where the star’s check-in time had been a carefully kept secret. A hotel sales representative said earlier in the day she hadn’t even known he was expected.

More:Did you remember they came to the Sun Bowl?

Sun Bowl fans hoping to have a look at Reynolds during the game probably can forget it. Plans to have him doing color commentary from the sidelines have been scrapped, and he’ll be confined to the broadcast booth.

Asked if he were going back to Juárez Friday night for more of whatever it was he enjoined in 1955, Reynolds only smiled and waved goodbye.

Trish Long is the El Paso Times' librarian and spends her time in the morgue, where the newspaper keeps its old clippings and photos. She may be reached at 546-6179 or tlong@elpasotimes.com.