Burt Reynolds his spleen and injured his other knee in a bad car accident. These injuries hampered his abilities on the field, and after being beaten in coverage for the game-winning touchdown in a 7-0 loss to North Carolina State on October 12, 1957, he decided to give up football. Ending his college football career, Reynolds thought of becoming a police officer; however, his father suggested he finish college and become a parole officer. To keep up with his studies, he began taking classes at Palm Beach Junior College (PBJC) in neighboring Lake Park. In his first term at PBJC, he was
Burt Reynolds by John Boorman, who cast him off on the basis of a talk show appearance. "It's the first time I haven't had a script with Paul Newman's and Robert Redford's fingerprints all over it," Reynolds joked. "The producers actually came to me first." "I've waited 15 years to do a really good movie," he said in 1972. "I made so many bad pictures. I was never able to turn anyone down. The greatest curse in Hollywood is to be a well known unknown." Reynolds also gained notoriety around this time when he began a well-publicized relationship with Dinah Shore and