I read an article, can't remember where, that showed a survey of U.S. boys from 1980. Asked who they would most like to be, a majority of them said Burt Reynolds.
I thought it was strange when I read it, and I think it is strange now. But I laughed with those movies too.
I can easily believe that. Like it or not, he was just about the most popular jock in America for several years in the late 70s and early 80s. I wouldn't have said him if they had asked me, but I can believe it.