Acting icon Burt Reynolds has died at 82, according to multiple reports. Reynolds is best known in the sports world as the star of The Longest Yard in the iconic role of Paule Crewe and also appeared in the Adam Sandler remake 29 years later. Reynolds reportedly died after he went into cardiac arrest Thursday, and was surrounded by family at the time of his passing.

Hardcore football fans remember Reynolds as a tailback before his Hollywood journey began. Reynolds played for Florida State where he roomed with ESPN anchor Lee Corso before a knee injury ended his playing career. Corso and Reynolds were known as close friends, as Corso once appeared in a cameo on "B.L. Stryker." He is a member of the Florida State Hall of Fame in the Class of 1977.

Reynolds also had strong ties to the UCF Knights athletics program. The Hollywood movie star donated one of the first horses to the athletics program in the mid-1980s. Reynolds donated a black stallion from his own ranch to long-time friend and UCF Athletics Director Bill Peterson.

This is from an Orlando Sentinel article published on January 15th, 1989:

"Actor Burt Reynolds isn't horsing around in his new relationship with the University of Central Florida athletic program. When football coach/Athletic Director Gene McDowell and his star salesperson, Manny Messeguer, visited Reynolds and Loni Anderson in Jupiter on Tuesday, Reynolds offered UCF a purebred black Arabian horse for the Knight to ride at games. UCF would house and care for the horse. While in Jupiter, McDowell presented Reynolds with a list of potential dates for the annual UCF fund-raiser, and he expects to hear from Reynolds later this month. ''Then we'll start making plans,'' McDowell said."

While Reynolds certainly has his fans in the football world, the actor was best known for dozens of iconic roles in Hollywood.

"After starring in TV shows such as Gunsmoke and Dan August, Reynolds rose to fame in the ‘70s for his breakout role as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance," Us Weekly wrote. "The actor, who has nearly 200 film and TV credits, also starred in multiple successful films including 1974’s The Longest Yard, 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit, 1996’s Striptease and 1997’s Boogie Nights, the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination."