PUEBLO – The biggest movie star on the planet in the late 70’s was once paired with the most popular and recognized rodeo cowboy of the time.

For a Miller Lite commercial ad campaign in 2006, Burt Reynolds, who passed away yesterday at 82, had joined a group of men selected exclusively for their macho toughness who’d create a bunch of funny laws guiding male behavior and beer drinking.

One of the studs chosen to sit at the “Men of the Square Table” (a parody on King Arthur’s “Knights of the Round Table”) was Ty Murray, a nine-time World Champion who had retired from professional bull riding in 2002.

The campaign included rugged celebrities like football star Jerome Bettis, boxer Oscar de la Hoya, and adventurer Aron Ralston, who had sawed off his arm in a mountain climbing dilemma.

At the square table, they addressed topics like retiring the high five, the wait time before dating a best friend’s ex-girlfriend, and a question Murray posed, “Is it cool for men to put a lime wedge in their beer?” which would lead to the campaign’s oft-quoted spot.

Advertising agency Crispin Porter had wanted a cowboy to help craft the Man Laws and immediately identified Murray.

The cowboy’s life story had recently been told in the book, King of the Cowboys, and he was an increasingly hot commodity on the cusp of breakthrough stardom.

Indeed, Murray would be paired with “Baby Bob” in a hilarious ad for Quiznos, and the Miller Lite work would help draw more acting roles on shows like “CSI” followed by a deep run on “Dancing with the Stars,” when America truly fell in love with a plainspoken, gritty, authentic cowboy.

By 2006, when Miller was pushing to be socially current with a tongue-in-cheek response to cries of sexism in advertising, Reynolds was not the box office champion he’d been. But nobody could have sustained his torrid run of silver screen success. From 1977 through 1982, the actor dominated the box office in a way not seen since Bing Crosby in the 1940’s.

The perpetually wisecracking, ruggedly good-looking Reynolds, who represented a hunky, hairy-chested, threat-less machismo now buried and extinct, was perfect to preside over the creation of “Man Laws.”

At the ad shoot, Murray, an accomplished gymnast before turning to western sports, would find athletics to be a common dominator with the charismatic actor.

In high school, Reynolds had loved football the most. He played at Florida State University before his career ended in 1955 when badly injured in a car crash.

Growing up, Murray was a big fan of Reynolds’ car-chase blockbusters Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit, enjoying daredevil bandits in borderline raunchy situations. So did the rest of the country; only Star Wars was earned more than “Smokey” in 1977.

The rodeo star was in awe of Reynolds, but the Hollywood heartthrob seemed even more enamored with the world champion cowboy. Reynolds had followed Murray’s career and considered himself a PBR fan.

Arriving on set, Reynolds brought Murray an armful of merchandise to autograph.

For his turn, Reynolds presented Murray with a signed “Smokey and the Bandit” DVD.

Reynolds was a rare actor who would upstage many of the films he appeared in. 

Yet even as de facto head of the “Men of the Square Table,” he didn’t completely take over the Miller Lite set. 

“Burt was aging at that point and had a little trouble remembering his lines,” Murray said. “Still, he was very funny and very much like his personality on screen – a real quick wit. That group of guys always got to laughing pretty fast.”

During the course of two multi-day shoots, the celebrities sat for hours around that square table, shooting the breeze, telling jokes.

The chemistry was good, and a sense of friendship came across in the lighthearted campaign.

“Burt was just one of the guys. We all had a mutual rapport, and that’s why the commercials worked,” Murray said. “He was the biggest movie star of the time, an international sex symbol but very respectful and down to earth.”

In one of the most iconic images of the 1970’s, Reynolds had posed for Cosmopolitan magazine on a bear rug in nothing but his birthday suit, with one arm strategically placed. 

The photo was called the greatest PR stunt of its time. Reynolds would regret it for the rest of his life.

Critics and the Hollywood establishment had difficulty taking an actor who’d shown his chops on television shows like “The Twilight Zone” and landmark, culture-defining films like “Deliverance” very seriously.

That wasn’t a problem on the Miller Lite set, where Reynolds was again playing an exaggeration of himself.

In the spots, he would declare new rules like “no wasting beer in the name of humor.”

Or, more famously, “Don’t fruit the beer!”

One day during down time at the square table, Reynolds was asked about the sexiest celebrity he’d ever befriended.

“Ever the gentleman, Burt said he couldn’t name names,” Murray said. “But after a pause, he did add, ‘I guess I can give you her first name: Bridgette.’”

When the cameras rolled, the buddy-humor translated, and the campaign was wildly popular.

Awareness of the commercials was off the charts. Young men were circulating their own Man Laws. Some of the lines were entering pop culture.

None of it was helping Miller Lite.

“Most people actually believed we were advertising Bud Light,” Murray said. “That didn’t make the people at Miller Lite very happy.”

Murray had been quite familiar with that other brand. He’d won $395,725 on the PBR Bud Light Cup tour in 1999, the most of any rider, and narrowly missed out on the overall championship even after winning World Finals.

Seven years later, Miller Lite’s “Man Laws” couldn’t be missed on primetime TV.

Murray’s celebrity rocketed.

“I’d get stopped all the time on the street by people telling me not to fruit the beer,” he said.

“Total strangers would yell out, ‘You poke it, you own it!”

Murray’s ascendance as a recognizable cowboy would turn into other mainstream opportunities.

He’d soon receive an invitation from a new television show called “Dancing with the Stars.”

“It was the dumbest idea I’d ever heard. I gave it thought for about a half second,” he said. “The fact is, I’d never even heard of ballroom dancing. I thought dancing was doing the 2-step at a beer joint.”

Emmitt Smith would win the competition a few years later. The show reconnected with Murray, and the rest is history. 

The passing of yet another American original gave Murray a chance to reflect on the odd and unpredictable twists and turns life can take, the unplanned commonly experienced, and the legendary people we can sometimes meet.

“You look back and see all the opportunities you’ve had, and it’s pretty cool to consider,” Murray said. “We had a pretty good time on that set with Burt Reynolds. I’d love to see the outtakes.”