Seeing the reception the Naked Cowboy got in Mobile on Valentine’s Day kind of makes you wonder what would have happened to Cupid, if the underdressed cherub had showed up.

Yes, that Naked Cowboy: Robert John Burck, the street performer known for wearing only cowboy boots, a hat and a guitar – and tighty-whities, if you dare to look behind the six-string. He’s most commonly seen in Times Square, where he makes a living off tips from posing with visitors, but he’s also known to migrate south to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

That’s what had him in Mobile on Tuesday. A couple of clips posted at www.facebook.com/NkdCowboy show him interacting with amused passersby at the intersection of Dauphin and Joachim streets in the heart of the Port City’s downtown entertainment district.

Another clip shows the end of the visit: An encounter with an all-business police officer who informs him that he can “put some damn pants on” or go to jail. Burck doesn’t put up a fuss: His car’s right around the corner, he says, and he’s happy to get in it and go.

And that was that. He might’ve had better luck on Joe Cain Day, but the Naked Cowboy was in New Orleans by Wednesday, doing his thing. He told AL.com that he’d passed through Mobile “some 20 odd times” on his way to New Orleans, but this was the first time he’d stopped. He thought it was a pretty cool place before his run-in with the law, and other than that he had no comment.

Mobile might have dodged a bullet: In 2021 Burck was arrested for panhandling in Daytona Beach, Fla., during Daytona Beach Bike Week. He challenged the constitutionality of the city’s panhandling ordinance and ended up with a $90,000 settlement from the city, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.