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Lee Corso issues thoughtful statement on passing of former roommate Burt Reynolds

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The world lost one of the true Hollywood legends on Thursday, as actor Burt Reynolds passed away from cardiac arrest at the age of 82.

Shortly after the report of Reynolds’ passing, Associated Press writer Ralph Russo reached out to College GameDay analyst Lee Corso to get his thoughts on the passing of the actor. Corso and Reynolds were roommates and teammates at Florida State in the 1950s.

“Burt was a life-long friend who was extremely close to me for the last 64 years,” Corso said. “We have always stayed in touch, through the good and bad times of our lives, talking about once a month for as long as I can remember. It was just two weeks ago that we were talking about the upcoming college football season and the (Semi)Noles.

“Burt, better known as ‘Buddy’ to his friends, loved FSU football and no matter how big a star he became, he never forgot his friends from the FSU football family. I will forever remember our conversations and the true friend that he was.”

Prior to becoming one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, Reynolds attended Florida State University where he played football and roomed with Corso. His gridiron career didn’t last long, however, as a string of injuries cut his playing time short.

Reynolds often made return trips to Tallahassee to see the Seminoles in action.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB