People of the present generation do not realize that Burt Reynolds was more than just a guy of 82 who died Thursday after he’d participated in a few hokey and sort of makes-you-feel-uneasy roles in his later life/career. For about a 5-to-10 year period from the late-’70s until the mid-’80s, Burt Reynolds (you can’t say just Burt or just Reynolds because it sounds ‘wrong’ in regard to him) was hotter than 12 acres of peppers.

If you’ve never seen Deliverance, do yourself a favor and watch it. It will make you uncomfortable. That’s what author James Dickey was all about; the cast carries it off perfectly.

On Sports Talk With J.J. and Bonzai Ben each weekday from 5-6 p.m. on 1130 AM The Tiger —  I just got tired writing all of that — they often talk of the Mount Rushmore of this and that. For my money, which I have none of so this is of no value to you — here is my Mount Rushmore of Burt Reynolds movies.

The Longest Yard. No question. Of course Deliverance. And then my favorite, W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings.

But No. 4 has got to be — even though I might have liked Gator better, is Smokey and The Bandit because I went with my dad and he laughed so hard he cried. He asked if we could see it again. I said yes, if he felt his heart could take it. We did. And again, tears.

If I would have called someone a “sumbitch,” he would have slapped me into next winter. But when Jackie Gleason said it, it was a different ballgame. I can’t blame him. I laughed too. Until I cried.