Terry Crews

Crews was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL draft. His career included stints with the Rams (six games), the Green Bay Packers (no games), the San Diego Chargers (10 games), the Washington Redskins (16 games), and the Philadelphia Eagles (no games). He also played for the Rhein Fire of the World League of American Football (later NFL Europe) during its 1995 season. Repeatedly cut from rosters, Crews often supplemented his football income by receiving portrait commissions from teammates.

After retiring from the NFL in 1997, Crews moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He had a long-standing ambition to work in the film industry, but up until then had no plans to pursue acting, and simply wanting to be involved in some way. A year earlier, he co-wrote and co-produced the independent feature film Young Boys Incorporated. A self-funded production filmed in Detroit with an anti-drug message, the film drew on his own observations, as well as those of his friends and family. Despite describing it as a "horrible" film, he credits the experience with getting him interested in the film industry.

In 1999, Crews auditioned for a role as a character athlete (known as Warriors) in the syndicated game show Battle Dome, which became his first acting part. He played T-Money for two seasons until its cancellation in 2001. The audition process and the opportunity to perform in front of an audience made him realize that he wanted to pursue acting as a career. However, he failed to land another acting job for the following two years. Appearances in commercials for products such as Old Spice, films, and music videos soon followed. His breakout role came in Friday After Next (2002) starring rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube, for whom Crews previously worked as on-set security. Having never taken acting classes, instead he asked himself what the audience wanted, and he believes this ultimately brought him success. He now believes acting is what he was born to do and would…

Crews was born on July 30, 1968 in Flint, Michigan; he is the son of Patricia Ann (née Simpson) and Terry Crews. The middle child of three, he grew up in a strict Christian household in Flint and was raised mainly by his mother, who was 18 when he was born. His father was an alcoholic and abusive to his mother. Crews received a flute from his great-aunt, and took lessons for eight years. He spent a summer at Interlochen Arts Academy and entered Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo on an art scholarship. After his freshman year, he tried out for the football team and earned a full athletic scholarship.

Crews is a devout Christian. He met Rebecca King when he was a college sophomore; she was the music minister at a local church. They married on July 29, 1989. They have four daughters and a son, Isaiah Crews, also an actor, and one grandchild. In 2014, Crews released his autobiography, Manhood: How to Be a Better Man or Just Live with One. In the book, Crews detailed his long-standing pornography addiction, which had seriously affected his marriage and his life, but which he overcame around 2009 and 2010 after entering rehabilitation. Crews stated he was raised in an "ultra-religious" household with an abusive father and that he had been using pornography since 8 years old to cope with the abuse. Since then he has taken an active role in speaking out about the condition and its impact, including posting on Facebook in his Dirty Little Secret Series. Crews is very keen on personal development and his favorite book is The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel: "I have read hundreds of personal development books, but this is the one that clearly showed me how to visualize, contemplate, and focus on what I truly wanted. It revealed to me that we only get what we desire most, and to apply myself with a laserlike focus upon a goal, task or project. That in order to 'have', you must 'do', and in order to 'do', you must 'be' – and this process is immediate. [...] I also reread it probably once a month to keep my vision clear". On an interview with Rotten Tomatoes in 2020, Crews…