Club Shay Shay - Terry Crews Part 1

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

Terry Crews comes to Club Shay Shay for a conversation with Shannon Sharpe covering the highs, lows and unexpected turns of his remarkable journey. From the heartbreak of getting cut from the NFL to working as a security guard for Ice Cube on the set of Next Friday, Terry's anecdotes are both hilarious, heartwarming and insightful. The experience of being an extra in Training Day with Denzel Washington adds another layer to his multifaceted career. The resilience that has defined Terry's career shines through as he recounts working on Friday After Next with a homeless Katt Williams. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Oh, you know getting on everybody's nerves back there. At the end close of that. all my life all my life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle pay the price want a slice got the roll of dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life hello welcome to another edition of club shea shea i am your host shannon sharp i'm also the reprador of club shea shea and the guy that's stopping by for conversation on the drink today is one of the most recognized stars on the planet. He's a world famous actor, multi-talented TV host, sitcom star, comedian, talented artist, bestselling author, children's books illustrator, advertising pitch pitchman, human rights activist, a Hollywood a-lister, one of the fittest celebrities on the planet. Three times people's sexiest man of the year.

His acting career spanned four decades, awarded a star in the Hollywoodwood walk of fame carrying husband i think your grandfather's you know that's it yeah proud father greater flint african-american sports hall of fame inductee nfl alum good friend of mine terry cruz t crew what's up man it's been good man it's been a long time it's been a very long time because i remember i used to bump into you all the time especially at uh events at the super bowl but i hadn't seen you in a long time you say you know a lot of things you know you had the uh covid and you know the family you know got grandkids now so it's just not as it's just not as not as portable as it used to be yes yes but how you being man i've been great man i've been really really good i'm just thankful bro right uh just thankful to still be here.

Right. That's the big thing. Let's get back to, you know, you did play in the National Football League, but I'm going to go back to your high school and growing up. You grew up in Flint. Yeah. When you were small, what did you want to do? Was football on the list?

Did you want to be a professional football player? What did you want to be growing up in Flint? You know, coming up in Flint, I always knew I wanted to be an entertainer. OK, because I came from the art thing. I was an artist. OK, team. Oh, really? OK.

Sketching. My first scholarship wasn't in football. I had a scholarship to Western Michigan University as an artist. OK. And then I walked on to the football team. Had that bug. Listen, this is the thing about football um and what was kind of crazy with me is that football was a way out of flint michigan i i followed all the greats there were there was andre rising yep there was carl banks yep uh there were the people even just any kind of athletic i mean glenn rice went to flint

i used to watch glenn play with northwestern uh before he went on to michigan and went on to the lakers and became a superstar so i knew athletics was gonna be my way out right uh because no one was gonna pay me to paint you know what i mean like i was airbrushing t-shirts and right doing all this stuff you get five hundred dollars maybe, you know what I'm saying? But with sports, I knew. I said, this is going to be my way out. I had friends that were on Ready for the World. It was either music or sports.

I couldn't sing, couldn't do that thing. And I said, well, this is going to be my thing. But the big, big thing about it is that, for me, football was always a means, but it was never the end. Right. Which is wild because it took me years to figure out I never really liked football. Wow. You just have to be good at it. You were good enough at it to walk on.

Did you earn a scholarship? I earned a scholarship i walked on earned a scholarship got drafted in the 11th round right uh to the los angeles rams in 1991 then got cut later on and then went to the packers the chargers redskins eagles hopped all around because again it was my way to it was the only way i saw to make some money. Right. But the big, big deal was, and this is another thing, man. We played at the same time. We did. You were you.

You became superstar, pro bowler, the whole thing. I always thought, well, you know, maybe it wasn't for me. But the real thing was, I realized, is that because of this deep down belief that I really, I didn't really like football that much. I wasn't really, you liked it. You didn't love it. I wasn't studying it. You see what I mean?

Like there was a thing where you had to go to a whole nother level to be at your level. Yes. And it was other things I wanted to do. There was just so many other interests. Like I'd be in practice and my mind be going off on what I was going to be doing afterward and what I was going to be doing afterward and what i was going to do before and what i i i and i have to say this because it's

funny my wife she she was my wife was there the whole time and we've been married 34 years okay she said you know baby maybe you wasn't that good and i said you're probably right because but the thing is while you're doing it you're thinking I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. But I realized when I look back, I didn't study my plays enough. I didn't do the little, little things because I had my interest. My mind was always in another place. Had you given football what you've given your entertainment career, do you think you would have been better at it absolutely absolutely but this it was too little too late right you know once you start

tooling around also how i came in i came in on the 11th round so it was 12 rounds back there people are looking now they're like 11 rounds oh no that's way back uh you know which is basically a glorified free agent but i have some people who believe in me i was a hustler and that's another thing too i couldn't catch i couldn't throw my ability was the ability to take tremendous amounts of pain right i was a special teamer i was that guy who blew up the wedge they don't even have a wedge anymore okay but i was a guy that that would they was like he's giving it up every time and that would make me stick on the team right but then when he came down to play and doing things to be in a linebacker and hold a specific position i had to be and this is thing it took years for me to realize that and to come to grips

with that because you always like i know i was good enough uh because of my your own pride right right but then when you look back and you like man there were people that was just better they just they were willing to do more but then once i got an entertainment i realized that's the key what it was meant to be that's the secret how supportive of was your family when you're growing up did they know you wanted to be in the entertainment because flint is a very blue collar hard working normally you go to the factories and that's what you do you graduate high school you go to the factories or you go to the military and that's it so how supportive was your mom and dad your family members with you like man i'm gonna be an entertainer i'm gonna be in hollywood i'm gonna do this did they look at you like man you got your

mind yes first of all you gotta understand i feel feel like I got to go to the biblical story of Joseph. Okay. You know, when he told his brothers, yeah, you look, hey, one day y'all all going to bow down to me. And they was like, oh, really? And they sold it. Right. I used to tell people what my dreams were all the time. I was like, I want to be on TV. I want to do movies. I want to make movies. I want to draw. I want to do this. And they were looking at me like I was from another planet. They like, hey, man, you in Flint. Right. Where what are you talking about? You are so far removed from all that stuff. And it kind of got me in trouble a lot. My mother got me in trouble, you know, back then and now.

But I also realized it was one of the things where, you know, I had big, big dreams. And what was a big, big thing for me is my dad, you know, my father was an alcoholic, but also he was one of those guys that came up from Georgia, a little small town, Edison, Georgia, worked his way up, got a factory and created a life for us. But at the same time, he was a little jealous. I mean, he looked at y'all didn't work as hard as I did. Y'all didn't do the things that I did to get where I'm from. Y'all really experienced life.

It was one of them things. And so he was always kind of he never liked sports. My father hated sports. He would always want me to go to army my mother was super religious which at the time you know going to church i wasn't allowed to go to movies i wasn't allowed to play sports i wasn't allowed to dance i wasn't allowed to listen to secular music everything i do today i was not allowed to do when i was a young man and so i didn't get to play sports till later, like ninth grade,

10th grade when they kind of, when I cajoled them and they kind of got, my mom got out of the religious stuff a little bit, but it was, it was really, really strict, man. And, um, and when I would start talking about that stuff, they were like, we can't even go to the movies. And you're talking about being in entertainment, right? It was hard, man. It was real. I felt like a black sheep. I felt like a guy that was always kind of eyes in the clouds.

I'm left-handed. Everybody else was right-handed. I'm drawing. Everybody's outside playing. They're like, hey, man, what is going on? Do you think because normally the way kids are with parents, the more parents don't want a kid to do something. The more you drive that kid towards that.

And because they didn't want you to play sports and they didn't want you to, they, they couldn't see your vision of being an artist and being in Hollywood. Did that drive the passion to make you want to get to it even more? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I,

you know, it's, it's, it's kind of wild because I even, I even have problems, you know, it's kind of wild because I even have problems, you know, with family members and different things. A lot of guys counted me out even back then. And now they're like, oh, okay, you did your thing and whatever. But it's one of them things where you never forget that.

Right. You know what I mean? And you always felt like I had something to prove. And that was, that was part of the reason I got into football. But then also once I got into entertainment, I knew there was no way back. Like you got to say,

when I moved out to retire from the NFL and moved to LA with my wife, we didn't know anybody. We had to start from scratch. And I had my little severance package from the NFL. Wasn't a lot of money. I didn't make a lot of money. Very little. It's still very little right now.

So don't feel bad. It's not like it's me. It's right now. Trust me. Oh, damn it. I thought, he's getting paid now. No, I guess not. But, you know, it was was adjournment so i had to

start from scratch man my first job in la was sweeping floors and there was a point where i thought you know and then everybody had counted me out by then i mean even there was family members that were like he had a chance he blew it right you know that was the that was the consensus and it was like well yeah to see i see, I told you this NFL thing. Did you have people to say, you know what, man, bro, you in the NFL, and you gave that up to come do this? Yep. Yep.

First of all, they were looking at, like, why you keep getting cut. That was the other thing. And it was like, obviously, it's not working out. And it was just, you know, it's one thing where you got a lot of people, family, friends, or so-called friends, waiting for you to fail. Right. And that's a big drive. Yeah.

For me, it was like, I love when you count me out. You know, it was like one of them things where I got to show everyone, everyone. My wife, one thing, my wife has always, always been by my side. And there was one time when even when she came to me and she was like, Terry, look, she said, we hurting. She said, we ain't got no money. We starving. We got these two kids at the time. She was pregnant with my third.

And we have five total. Yeah. And so she was like, what? What are we going to do if we're struggling like this? It's not working. Then when are we going to go back? Are we going to go back? I said, what are we going to do if we're struggling like this? It's not working. Then when are we going to go back? Are we going to go back? I said, we are never leaving.

I don't care if it happens when we're 99 years old. We are never leaving L.A. I promise you this. I said, if we just continue to do this. Because this is where I had kind of learned the mistakes I had made in football. Okay. And I didn't have another chance on football. You know what I'm saying?

It was kind of like, man, if I had just studied a little bit more, if I had worked a little bit harder, if I had really, really done what I should have been doing. Because that's the thing. You tell yourself you've been doing what you should be doing. But then you eat the cake. Yeah. And you hang out. Right. And you do that.

And you stay up too late. And you don't go to bed. And you totally mess your stuff up. You show up late for the job interview and then be like, they didn't want me. They hated me. No, no. You showed up late, bro. And I totally had to be honest with myself, man.

Start marking off things that I wasn't doing. And I said, OK, what I'm going to have to do. And this is the way I framed everything, even when I was here in L.A. I said, imagine, what if I'm sweeping this floor, man? You understand, I'm almost in tears while I'm sweeping this floor because I'm going, dude, my life may never, ever get back to where I started. Because once you're in the NFL, you at least see it. You see the money. You see the stuff.

You're like, man, I'm there. I can touch it. You see the nice cars and the jewelry. Oh, you see the cars pulling out the lot. You see the stuff you're like man i'm there i can touch it and then the nice car and the jewelry you see the cars pulling out the lot you see the jury you see the people living the life and and the press and then all of a sudden but it's gone and it's gone right and i said man look okay i said imagine if someone was going to give me a million dollars to sweep this floor how would you sweep it and is, these are the little bitty mindsets that, and I remember I was like, okay, okay. I have to imagine I'm going to get a million dollars if I sweep this floor. Correct. Cause that was, I had to play these kinds of games with my

head in order to get over the depression. Right. And I remember sweeping and sweeping and sweeping. And all of a sudden I forgot about my problems. I forgot about it. In. And I remember sweeping and sweeping and sweeping. And all of a sudden, I forgot about my problems. I forgot about it. In fact, I was doing something about my situation. And I decided to do that about every menial job that I ever had. I was filing papers that fell over in the Veterans Administration, all the papers that fell over in the Northridge earthquake. I'm filing papers. I'm doing this. Then I started doing security for movie sets, but it wasn't like, you know,

bodyguard. It was literally, I'm standing outside on the parking lot, watch it with a flashlight, watching it. But what I said is what if someone gave me a million dollars to watch this parking lot? I got made sure I had my batteries and my flashlight. I ironed my clothes. It was a mindset that I said, I'm going to reverse that bad attitude I had in the league that didn't get me where I wanted. I said, now every job

I have to treat like that. And what's so crazy is that I started to do everything like that. Right. Like every little, it created a habit in me that kept me going. So it didn't really matter what people said.

I felt like I was getting this imaginary reward. Right. If I just did a great job. I literally, if I just pleased God, that's all I had to do. But you mentioned depression. Yeah. Because here you are. You had spent five, six years in the NFL and now you're sweeping a floor in a warehouse or a factory and you're filing papers.

So how did that mess with you mentally to know that you had a chance and you saw everything? All your dreams could have been solved, even though it wasn't the path that you really wanted to be on. But a lot of your things could have been solved had you just did that. Yeah. Well, it was one of the things where my wife literally because the depression is real. When you quit football, it's almost like the military. You're trying to figure out what else. What am I now? What, how am I going to continue this? Now, and I have to say this too.

And so many ballplayers never figured it out, Shannon. I mean, I'm 55. I can count almost 30 people that are dead from the NFL that I played with. There ain't even 30 people in my class at high school that passed away. Right. But in the NFL, gone. I mean, people that I put, Junior Seau, just the other day, Frank Wycheck. It blows my mind, man.

I mean, people that I play with, I'm sitting there like, wait, Steve Henderson's gone. Kevin Green is gone. Oh, it's Kevin Green's backup. He's gone. And it says there's something to this. And it's usually after they retire and they go through this mindset of what am I right now? And you may never find it. And I thank God that I have my wife to help me come back to life. Because she was like, Terry, she said, you are bigger than this. You are more than this. You have to understand that this is you are past this. Now, again, there were times when I didn't believe her. Right.

But it was one of the things where I got so depressed. I got out of shape. And I remember my wife came up behind me. And this was this was a life changing moment, man. She came up behind me and pinched my wife came up behind me, and this was a life-changing moment, man. She came up behind me and pinched my back fat. Now, I was always proud of how I looked, you know what I mean? And I said, what are you doing? You know, it's okay, you know, it's cute.

And I said, well, hey, ain't nothing back there. She said, oh, it's back here. I said, what? And I remember saying, okay, I could change my life if I just go back to the gym. And this is the thing, man. I hadn't worked out in a year. I was depressed.

I was tired. I walked in the gym, and I told them, I said, I want to work out here. And listen, I ain't never paid to work out nowhere. And they were like, yo, that's $25 a month. I was like, $25 a month? I said, but, no, I'm going to work out here. And they said, yeah, it's $25 a month. I remember no i'm gonna work out here and they said yes 25 a month i remember going okay i put my money down and i went in the gym and i was so depressed i went in sat

on a machine read a magazine and went home i said but i gotta come back i said make sure i come back 20 days 21 days and i made a promise to myself, just keep coming back. And dude, that turned into 30 something mile years, man. I'm right here. Like I never stopped that whole time. But that was a, it's only, what I have to say is these things are what I call incremental. It's not one big giant thing. For me, it was always one little message, one little thing.

And, you know, also when I moved out here, I started trying to get my thing on animation because I was like, I'm an artist, so I can show you my portfolio. And I had my portfolio in at Disney, at DreamWorks, at Hanna-Barbera, all this stuff. But then at the same time, hand-drawn animation went out the window because Toy Story came out. So all of a sudden, they were giving me my portfolio back like, that don't work. And then I got a chance to act. And the rest is

history. I did not know that that was my destiny. I had no idea. I actually was watching Cube's car on the set of Next Friday. And I was watching Cube's car on a set of Next Friday. And I was watching with all these guys walking around this movie set as a security guard. And Cube would walk by every day and I'd watch his car. I'd say, yes, Mr. Cube, how are you, Mr. Cube?

He'd be like, yeah, yeah, what's up, man? Walk by, we'd just watch the car. And then all the way to being in the next movie, Friday After Next. Right. Which gave me my shot, which really blew me up. Which, you know, just being close, being it. A lot of times for me, it was just being able, just showing up. Right.

And being open to it because here it is. I didn't even know this was my destiny. Right. You know what I mean? I never told anybody that I wanted to act. Right. I didn't even know this was my destiny. You know what I mean? I never told anybody that I wanted to act. I was trying to get, like, be a filmmaker and do all this stuff. But it's unbelievable, man. And when I see that, you know, I got a star on the Walk of Fame, this stuff is still, still.

I'm the most grateful man in this town, man, 100%. When you tell your kids, and one day you're going to be able to tell your grandkids, I don't know how old they are. Or even, like, bro, I was in the league. I played against Barry, played with Jackie Slater, played with Kevin Green. I played with some of the all-time great players. When you look back, are you at all? Because I remember when I first got into the league and I saw all the players that I had watched on television, from Jerry Rice to Joe Montana to Lawrence Taylor and all these guys. I'm like, wow.

You know, one day, even if I don't have a long career, I can say, well, man, I was on the field with this guy. I was on the field with that guy. Do you ever look back and think about the journey that you went on through the NFL? All the time, every day. First of all, this is the thing. People always measure success by, oh, man,

this was the first round pick. He's the big height. He's the guy. And then, you know what? They measure success from people who are good to great. Right. But to me, the true, true measure of success has always been how long your journey was.

Right. Meaning it was horrible to great. Right. You know what I mean? Listen, when I look at what flip michigan is right now and i look at where i came from and i look at the again the friends the people i came with how they ended up and and how so many people fell to the side i just go man and i'm still here not only am i still here i'm thriving i have to look at the whole journey i gotta look at how far i came as opposed

to oh man you know yeah i'm good i'm here now and i want this and then that but i realized man i am one in a million right and this is where the gratitude comes from when you during the season and because it's tough you mentioned the teams that you play for the rams you play for the packers you play for the washington um to get cut during the season and you got to tell your wife baby you know i got released today and you know what so what was what was she saying to you t baby we might need to get this up can i tell you a story this is crazy here i am 1995 i'm on the washington redskins uh well there was a little bit there was there was a time when you know you know they had the depth chart sitting up there and the whole thing and it was right before the camp i mean right

after camp and they said congratulations you made the team and you know it's monday of the week where you're about to get ready for the first game and i'm going oh my god this is it this is it i'm i'm i tell my wife we celebrate we went through the cut down days and the whole weekend it's monday we go to practice i practice all day my wife while i'm in practice she checking my kids in the school because we had to wait until i found out if i made the team right right this is actually this is not 95, it was 96. And here I am, North Turner's the coach,

and I'm like, I'm so happy we made it. I go to practice. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily, with Greg Rosenthal.

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and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I go home. I'm tired. I come home, and they say, hey, man, come back up to Redskin Park and bring your playbook.

Wait. I had signed my kids into school. I said, wait. But I went through the whole cut down. Right. Bruh. I said, wait a minute. Y'all joking.

Somebody playing with me. Monday. I'm preparing for the week. Right. Brought my playbook up there. They said, we're going to let you go, man. On that Tuesday, which is the NFL day off, they brought another linebacker from another team. And I was sitting out there the whole time.

And I was gone. That level of pain. And my wife is looking. And she's like, but i thought we made it babe dude i get choked up thinking about it right now man man my kids are like so i can't go to school you're gonna work something out dude i sat the whole year didn't get picked up try to find ways to make it work nothing to you talking about a level of light and then and then I was stuck in the city Where I got cut from because you can't just hop up and leave. I'm there with my family

I like I'm moving on parents, right? And so I'm watching my put the friends that I amen. Yeah, I'm calling Hey guys, what y'all doing? And then I uh, we got a game Okay, yeah, I can'all doing? And they're like, we got a game. Wow. Okay. Yeah, I can't hang with them no more. So I'm lonely, man. And it's just me and my wife sitting in the town waiting for what's next. Bruh, that level of that's something that is never really talked about.

That's so many players. Because the sacrifice is you've been there for a whole year remember you don't get your money to the game right so i spent six months on two hundred dollars a week to work out and just knowing just giving you you risk everything so you can make it and so you can at least get that game check. Right. And I didn't get that. Was Washington your last stop? I actually, Philadelphia Eagles was my last stop because I went the whole season and got picked up right before Christmas for the playoffs for the Eagles.

So I got to play with that one last. And we played the 49ers and got in a wild card game and got sent out and that was it for me that was it i mean i played that one game got me a little money got that one game check at the end of the season right and a little playoff money that was it was that the final straw was that when you knew man it's over for me. I'm done. But wait. The stress on your family. You is one thing, but you got wife and kids, T. But wait, I'll put her through it one more time because I got a tryout with the 49ers.

And I went, I said, you know, you chase it. Right. You chase it, man. It's like a drug. It is. It really is, man. It's one of them things where you're like, I'm this close.

If I just, and man, I went and got a tryout with the 49ers. And I remember this coach threw the ball at me. And for some reason, he was about me to you, man. He went, woo! I put my hand up, boom. And my finger was pointing downwards. And I was like, yo! And I knew it was dislocated.

I popped it back in. It was swelled up like a sausage. And I knew it was dislocated. I popped it back in. It was swelled up like a sausage. And I fumbled around that tryout, man. That's when I knew it was over. Like, when I'm running around there and I'm going, what am I doing? What am I doing? This is it.

I don't have it no more. I don't know if I can summon the strength to go through this again, you know? And that was it. and then my wife because we had a this now i gotta go back to all the way back to college when i'm dating my wife i told her we were sitting at a wendy's parking lot we were sitting in the wendy's they had little places in the front where we sit there and i said look first i'm gonna play in the nfl then we're going to move to Hollywood. We're going to make movies. I made that promise. You see, because I always talk.

Right. That's what got on everybody's nerve. Okay, they was like, he talking again. Yeah. But I told her, I said, that's what we're going to do. We're going to play in the NFL. Then we're going to move to Hollywood and make movies. She was like, okay, okay.

When I came home from that audition, from that from that from that trial, she looked at me. She said, remember when you said we're going to move to Hollywood, make movies. You ready? Wow. Yes. You see that right there. When I talk about somebody who's down with you. She said, remember when you said that? Let's go, man. And I said, you serious? You serious? She said, let when you said that? Let's go, man. And I said, you serious? You serious? She said, let's go.

Right. We was in a little town home that we had rented from another player. No furniture in it. Just trying to see what's next. We loaded everything in our truck. I had an old Nissan Pathfinder at the time. We loaded everything, put our two girls in the back and drove straight out to california didn't know anybody wow that's bad i'm telling you that's power what was it that

she knew you so well she had been with you for so long she saw you come home not to make not to make it but i don't think i made it. And to know it's over. It's time to transition into that second part. You know how you said, I'm going to go play in the NFL and then we're going to go make movies? Well, that first part is over. Let's close the door. Let's open this door.

She was so gentle with it. Like, you know, because again, with me, you know, like I said, we lived out of suitcases, man. Been packing and moving and then and then. And she'd be like, honey, are you doing everything you're supposed to do? I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. Did she ever tell you, Terry, I don't think you're putting your heart into it.

I don't think you're putting everything. She was gentle with it. She's like, well, shouldn't you be doing? I notice you're not doing this kind of thing. She would always kind of be real with me. And I was like, no, I'm doing enough. But again, I was male arrogance and the whole thing. And I'm the man in the family. I know what I'm doing. She knew. She was watching. But finally, finally, she saw how broke I was after that 49er

tryout. She was like, babe, I'm a dream. You was mentally defeated. I was done, dude. Like, when I say done, I think she just saw it in my face. Like, everything in it was like, you know. And this is the thing where most players hit. You know, no matter how high it got, when it's time to go,

very few get some kind of parade. You know i mean you get kind of kicked out you kind of like all of a sudden you just disappear the getting in is easy it's the getting out that's hard it's hard man especially when you don't leave on your terms oh and how many ever get to do that no tom brady might but barry sanders did that's where everybody looked at him like, what? This man just decided it on his own? Right. But usually it's injury. Usually it's cut.

Usually they want one more shot and they're not getting it. Right. Man, that's some pain, man. So if the NFL asked you, say, well, Terry, I mean, you played in the league. What's some of the advice? And we got guys and we need you to talk to some of these rookies that's coming in about transitioning from the game once it's

over. What advice would you give some of the younger players knowing that there's going to come a time, and I know you think because you're 21 and 22, you're going to play 50 years, but you're not. What are some of the advice you would give them about transitioning into a post-career? The biggest thing is humility.

Humility. It's really, really hard. This is one thing. Sweeping floors humbled me. Like, there's a breaking that you have to go through. Because if it was a long time, I wouldn't do that. Right. And I was like, hey, man, you know, I'm too proud for this.

And what would everybody think if they see me sweeping the floor? Right. And my wife was like, they don't know you. Nobody knows you. You wasn't that popular, you know. But in my head, I'm this. Everybody knows me as this. And man, man, man, let me tell you something, Shannon.

Now, I've been doing Hollywood for 20 and something odd years. And what blew me away is perspective. And this is what I want to tell any young person coming up. Perspective. First of all, I've been to Korea. Korea don't care nothing about the NFL. They don't know anything about it. Right.

I was looking for scores. Couldn't find them. I went to South Africa looking for the NFL scores. They're like, what are you talking about? It's rugby over here, bro. I said, okay. I've been to Hong Kong. Don't care about no NFL.

Then I go to Europe. And I'm going, okay, well, how about it? What do y'all think about it here? They're like, It's okay. That's interesting. Then I realized, wait a minute. In my head, it's this gigantic beast. And it is in America.

Right. But I said, the rest of the world, when I went to South America, they don't care. I went to Brazil, they don't care about the NFL. But I said, dude, said dude you gotta understand it's a big big world and there's so much out there that's for you and you have to find it you have to find it and this is what i would tell every every young man is that there's something bigger than the league for you right you have to find, though. But that's a hard belief.

It's like when everything, and you've spent your whole life 24-7 being this thing, and you have to flip it, and all of a sudden it means nothing anymore, that's where the humility comes in. Yeah, because I think so many people find the NFL is who they are.

Yeah. And because it's who they are and not what they did, it's hard to separate because you think, no, you're not. Again, man, this is why I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of Mike Strayan. I'm proud of players

that have come out and have literally realized, wait a minute, I'm bigger than this. Wait, man, you're bigger than the game that's what i got i have to tell this to every nfl player you are bigger than the game the game needs you not the other way around but you have this belief because your mind gets played with a lot right it's very i mean the manipulation is real you know that's one of those things that that makes you get nfl people most of these players

been manipulated since college you know i'm saying so you you trained in that right and so when you woke wake up and realize wait there's a whole nother world out here but a lot of cats don't believe it right and this is where i've seen cats commit suicide by overeating or suicide by putting a gun on himself or suicide by by drinking suicide by whatever i mean they have the hardest times because they think the whole world is thinking of them as this and if you just switch it and turn it around it's a new future i think it was a lot easier than what you gave yourself credit for because football wasn't what it is you liked it you didn't love it right when you get other people that they love it yeah and everything that they are their entire fiber is nfl football or being an nfl player and when that doesn't work out they don't see the world that's their world yeah yeah and everything that comes along with it

you're right i mean that, that is the problem. The biggest advantage I had was not being a superstar. That was my advantage. Right. I don't know if I'd be here if I had been a superstar. Right. If I had seen the level that Junior Seau had seen. Right.

I don't know, man. I really don't. I can honestly say that that would have been such a hard fall that I don't know if I would have been able to survive it. Get in on the action with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. New customers who deposit $5 or more can get no sweat bet up to $1,000 back in bonus bets. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now and use code SHANNON. New customers can get a no sweat bet up to $1,000 if your first bet loses.

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They might see me. I don't sweep in there. It feels like there is beneath them. Yeah. When sometimes, you know, hey, they need all walks to do something before you got to another level, which you said, OK, I got to sweep this floor. But I'm not going to sweep this floor forever. It's just a means to an end. Right.

Get me in the door and I'm going to do something else. So you're on the set of friday as a security guard that's right you had mentioned that you had never ever really told anybody that you wanted to do acting you wanted to be behind the camera not in front of the camera and so when did your big break come when did you get an opportunity you know it was amazing i went i have friends in the business because doing security, I knew a lot of location managers. And the location managers would hire the security. And this location manager became a friend of mine.

He said, hey, man, Denzel's shooting down here in the jungle. It's a movie called Training Day. You want to come down and take a look? I was like, I get to watch Denzel do his thing? I'm like, yeah, man, I do his thing i'm like yeah man i'm coming i'm walking i was the witness and he said man come on they're shooting all night so he said you got to come late like 10 o'clock about 11 o'clock they'll start the filming and the whole thing and so i'm down there in the jungle man and i'm sitting there going oh and i'm watching

this denzel the car the whole that cul-de-sac the whole deal and i'm going oh this is hot and i'm watching dizelle get ready he got the chains on he got the do-rag the whole thing is that the king kong scene this is the king kong scene bro now let me tell you this and this is gotta understand how magical this was man antoine foucault director, saw me standing there. And again, by this time, remember, I went back to the gym. Right. Because I had been going back to the gym about a year or so, I was kind of still in shape. Right.

He said, hey, man, you want to be in this scene? I said, yeah. He said, hey, man, just take your shirt off. You got to see your tank top. I'll put you in the scene. Bruh! I'm like, never acting. You're talking about no acting.

I stand there. I'm looking. I'm like, OK, OK. And I just got that NFL man. You know, you're about to come in. You're facing off against somebody. And I said, just don't say nothing. And just mad dog. I said, don't tell me.

And that was it. And so Denzel's doing all this. And you see, I'm just standing there the whole time like this. And dude, it changed my life. When you say like that went to the Oscars, bro. Like it was me and Denzel when they showed that scene on the Oscars. My mother was like, you went to the Oscars. I said, well, I'm not at the Oscars, but I'm in this scene.

And I was like, I was hooked. Like when I say hooked, because all I had to do was just because remember, man, I'm on the NFL field and my mind is already going all right. I was like, this is what I always want to do. I said, man, now I'm in my element. Don't mess this up. Right. Bruh. Watching this.

Then I got a chance to look at his script and his script was on the car and he had written the wages of sin is death on the top of his script. I was like, he's done. And I watched how he prepared and i was like that's that's that level i have to get to that's what i and all of a sudden there it was the acting thing and what happened was cube remembered me he's like yo man you're the security guard because everybody loved training day when training day came out he said man we're doing another friday i got a call from the location manager they said hey man q people want to see you i went in it was me cat williams

sitting next to each other in a little bitty room and he was like man come on in we got this because tiny lister didn't want to do my good friend yeah god bless his soul yeah tiny lister didn't want to do the third one and they said we got a new character, a guy named Damon. And the whole thing. I was like, and see, you got to understand, too, I had nothing to lose. Right. Like, when I say nothing to lose, I came in there like Craig and Day-Dame. Just the niggas I want to see.

You know? Bro, I had nothing. I went back to Flint on them. I was like, this is where I came. These are the cats I knew. Right. And I came in there, man, and off to Cube. Everybody was like, ah!

They were like, ah! And then Cat came in. It's just the audition. And they said, you in? You in? And Friday after next. Listen, I saw Cube probably about a month ago. And I walked up to him, man.

I said, dude, thank you. Thank you. I said, you have no idea how many careers you started just by giving us that shot. Right. A lot of people never, ever really give props what props do. You know, because they're like, well, I didn't get that much money. But, dude, that was my start. Listen, I was just a little bit into it.

Man, I was just thankful. I was walking around. And listen, what was so crazy is me and Cat, Cat was homeless at the time. So Cat was living in his trailer. And me and Cat said, hey, man. And I remember talking to Cat. I said, Cat, we never get another opportunity. We got to make sure they remember us.

I said, because we did two new cats in this whole thing. They know everybody else. Right. I said, but it's me and you. And remember, man, I was not going to let what happened in my football career happen to my entertainment career. Man, I'm listening to you tell the story, T. And the way you're telling the story, football never gave you the high

that what you got by just doing that. Exactly. I knew I was in my destiny. When I say, this is what I'm saying. I found my destiny. I was gone. People,

when people see that scene and Friday after the next, look, you turn the sound down. It ain't a comedy. Right. We was crying. Right. We were deep.

There was so in it. He was crying. I was crying. People were We were deep. They were so in it. He was crying. I was crying. People were sitting by the monitors like, what are we looking at right now? Because I was so gone in and I said, this is where, and then it was so wild because I didn't even want money anymore. I said, I want that feeling again. You know what I mean? It's true because you could talk about athletes and money and all that stuff, but there's a point where I'm sure

when you're just catching and doing everything right, you want to chase that again. They call it the zone. It's just blow, whatever that is. And let me tell you, you know when I hit that blow again? When I was doing White Chicks. That movie, White Chicks. Everything I hit that blow again? When I was doing White Chicks. That movie, White Chicks. Everything I said just blow. Friday up next, White Chicks came off of that. It came after that. Right.

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Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The whole, the blackwood is very small and they saw and once right after next hit people were like this dude and so what was so great is keenan ivy wayne was like hey man we gotta get this dude a shot right you know what i mean because they're like man we want some of that on us and it and it kept on all my business shannon in this town has been repeat business i mean the the reason i was with all these sandler movies uh adam sandler called me

but the thing is when i did longest yard which was my revenge on the nfl right me and michael irvin the whole movie i like, this is the one everybody's going to remember. Like, good God. Like, who gets that? Right. You know what I mean? And I remember Chris Rock was like, hey, man, he's on the movie. Longest shot. He said, dude, you're killing.

I got something for you. I said, what is it? He said, don't worry about it. I got something for you. I go home. The script for Everybody Hates Chris is literally on my doorstep. I open that up. He's like, I want you to play my dad.

Because he saw me and my wife and my two kids out there in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when we was filming Longest Yard. He was watching. And that's the thing. You got to remember, everybody is watching. Everybody is watching. And so then I played chris's dad and everybody hated chris for four years straight this man when i look at my life man i just think i just thank god for every every opportunity and now this is another thing because i've now reached the point because i play with all these guys and they're gone now I'm losing actors

man Andre Bauer passed away last week and he took me under his wing man you talk about one of the best actors right of our. I mean, Juilliard trained, absolutely incredible, Emmy Award winning, dramatic beast. Right. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, who was able to come and flip it to a comedy like that. And I was like, man, what is the secret? And he never, this is the thing, he was like a super all pro who could have looked down on all of us, but decided he was just going to pull us all up with him. 61 years old.

He was like my big brother. Right. I look at guys that are dying. When I look at Michael Clark, Duncan's gone. Tiny Lister, gone. Lance Reddick, gone. Lance Reddick, gone. I don't know. Chadwick Boseman, gone.

We did a movie draft day together. Okay? And I'm going, man, you don't have forever. You don't. You got to go for it. You got to get what you are coming to get now. And you can't waste time. You can't treat it like,

well, whatever. You come on. Because I've seen it in the NFL. And everybody thought, and this is the thing, everybody has determined certain people that already won. Like, I won life, he won.

You know, people say, he won the internet, whatever. It ain't never over. It's never how you start. It's how you finish. Right. And let me tell you, when I'm done, and I'll be honest with you, man, I'm just getting started.

I truly, truly feel I have the same energy that I had when I first started. I'm really thankful to be sitting here with you right now. But I admire you for it. But just your transition, you know what I mean? And the energy that you bring. Your passion is palpable and i'm the same way i'm 100 passion right that's all i am right you know i mean i don't know no other way i have no other way i'll do everything like i'm getting a million dollars when when you

sat down for the end but you sat down for the audition to read with cat did you know cat prior to that nope not at all and you guys became pretty cool after that. We became amazing friends. And what's so crazy, I used to watch him. Because I was, because we, you know, remember a movie, when you shoot a movie, then you got to wait a year and a half for it to come out. Correct. So you just wait, like people, you're like, man, well, I got this thing coming. They're like, yeah, right, whatever. And you know what's so funny?

After Friday, after next, I had to go back to insecurity. I had to go back. Right. Because I didn't have nothing else turned to right but i knew it was coming right and well it was so crazy i would do commercials and different things but i would go watch cat williams at the hollywood park casino he had his own room and this man was the funniest man i ever seen which was crazy and then i'll never forget when he starts selling out the universal amphitheater and watching them blow up it's this is another thing too to watch people all it's funny because i see kids that's been on set and now they're superstars now you know like tyler james williams is now superstar right you know i've watched people this is you never never know what's going to happen.

You know, you look at things and you go, oh my God, this, this man was, listen, one great example. We were at the BET Awards and I saw this little kid walking around with a little hat on. And I was like, hey, hey, I got his mixtape. I said, Kendrick, Kendrick. He's like, you know who I am? It's Kendrick Lamar, bro. I said, man, your mixtape, dude, Section 80 is amazing.

I said, you are the next. I said, Rebecca, this is Kendrick. He was like, you know who I am? I said, who? I said, I love you. I said, I think you are going to be the future. And what's so crazy is that he called me a few years later. He ended up doing a video with him right because he

said remember when you told me you knew who i was remember this you told me i was gonna be i was gonna be doing something great look at this man now look tell me he's not the best in the world right now and i'm so proud and, too, man, another thing I had to learn, and that the NFL taught me that I had to unlearn, competing. I decided to never compete with people. This was my problem. Because they call it the sin of comparison. Right.

When I'm looking at what you got and comparing what I got, it's always going to be a problem. Yeah. Always. Right. Because you're always going to come up short. Yes. Somebody always got more.

Right. And then somebody always got less, but you always want more. Right. And I realized, man, that creativity was the exact opposite of competition. Right. If I'm being creative, I'm not competing. So I decided, you know what because everybody was like hey man you gotta you know you gotta be like tiny you gotta be this you

gotta i was like no no no no no i'm gonna be me i'm gonna be me and i was like yeah but you kind of weird i said yeah i am that's what made me unique i am all right you listen first of all you can't even it got to the point where we read scripts now today we want a terry crews type because they know that's that's just me right and i decided by just being creative that was my ticket out of that world of competition because this is the thing man the league is league is always, it's always, it's like, hey man, you versus so-and-so. Right.

Wait, first of all, you got to fight the people in your own locker room first. Yeah. Before you even go up against another team. You know what I mean? And then you always being judged, like, well, you missed a step

and uh-uh-uh, did you miss that? He didn't. Right. The coaches would never, they would always tell you what you messed up on. Right.

And then being black, we would go into the locker room. And if you hurt, they act like, you act like you don't want to play. I'll say, hey, man, first of all, white kids getting hurt. And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, he's hurt. Right. But I've never, ever treated, they never, ever treated any black guy I knew in the locker room like he was really hurt. Wow. Like he was trying to cut out on the game so in other words you said i gotta unlearn because you know

it's a it's a it's a jungle mentality because someone is literally trying to take food off your table someone is trying to take a roof from over your kid and your family head to make sure they have one but once you got into the entertainment space you're like i'm not competing against him yeah yeah i mean what what can i do my lane first of all i didn't go to school that right i didn't go to juilliard right you're talking to a dude who ain't supposed to be here right everything i'm getting ain't ain't supposed to have right so i'm already behind right you know what i mean but then i realized wait a minute if i just bring what i bring i'm ahead you know what I mean? But then I realized, wait a minute. If I just bring what I bring, I'm ahead. You know what I mean?

If I bring what only I bring to a project, because you can't do what I do. Right. You know what I mean? And this is one thing that the magic, and this is what I want to tell every young man is trying to transition out. That's the way it works for everything that you have something that no one else has but it's up to you to find it right you gotta find it and don't you don't find it by comparing yourself with everybody else or whatever you find about find out what you want to do and this is when i had to make the hard realization that, man, maybe football wasn't, it wasn't, it just, it wasn't for me.

But it got me to where I am. And I'm very thankful for it. Let me tell you, I love the game. In fact, I don't even have a team. I just love the players. Right. Sitting here with players, talk about, you know, what we came through. It feels like a fraternity, man.

Right. It feels like something we can, we can therapize each other. Right. You know what I mean? Because we all know it. We all seen it. Right. And we all played those games.

Right. Together. I mean, I was there when they was like, ain't no CTE. Sit down. You just weak. Right. I'm like, man, my head hurt. You know what I mean?

I'm seeing double. Right. And they're like, man, look, you just weak. I was there when they was telling everybody it wasn't, it wasn't real. Right. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, no, this is real, man. This is real. Obviously, when you first starting out, you don't make a lot of money. How do you get paid? Because everybody thinks that you in the movie, you make a million dollars or you make five million dollars. And it's in the roles. I mean, you're first starting out. It ain't no big payday at all.

Not at all. Not at all. You get, here's your $500. Thank you very much. Right. But that's the thing. I never did it for the money. Remember I told you when we was doing that Friday after next? Right.

I was chasing that feeling of doing something, of going so deep and doing something so well it was like when i was sweeping those floors you know what i mean you once you start that you chase it and you realize there's you i could be excellent at this and i chase excellence and what i found is that the money will come right that's what's so crazy. But what problem is, is when you chase money, if all of a sudden, because this is the thing, and this is what blew me away. I started to take job off my passion and what I saw would further what I was trying to do. And I wouldn't take job off the money. And I turned down a lot of money making jobs that was terrible. But there was a lot of things that paid a little bit amount of money.

But man, it took me to a whole nother level. And by doing that, by not chasing the money, it's like it comes, man. The passion will pay for itself. Not white chick. That's, look, Damien was in Next Friday. The Friday After Next was unbelievable. But it was that movie where Terry Crews all of a sudden becomes a household name. True.

Kenan Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Sean Wayans. I owe them a debt forever. That was one of the best experiences I ever had in my life. When I say from beginning to end, hanging with them dudes, the freedom that that family had, it was like being in the Jacksons,

bro. You know what I mean? Listen, I watched In Living Color. I remember in college, all the way up in In in living color and holding keenan ivory wayans is a legend yep and i'm there he's like hey terry hey man do whatever you want man you're killing this do this i was like i could do whatever i want like everything i said so i could just and man when you hit that level of freedom and and the way is but this is think about comedy is that it opens up

like there was the phrase they used to the phrase they say a lot of times is that you know there's the answers never know the answer is yes in comedy so if you you've got a question answers yes I mean you go you just keep taking it taking it taking it and that's what we did. And, bruh, I had no idea. By the time we got done, and I remember that premiere, and the producer looked at me. He said, hey, man, your life will never, ever be the same. You got to understand. I spent, like I said, I learned my lessons from football.

I remember being in that room, singing that song probably 10,000 times by myself. By myself. So that when I got on the set, that was one take. I was so ready. I had the head moves in. I had everything. And people were like, we never seen that. Because you got to understand, too, the rules in comedy at the time were muscles never funny.

Right. That's not funny. You got to be rude. You got to be rude. And everybody was trying to tell me to take karate lessons because you had to be an action star. I was like, no, no. I want to be funny. I think I can make people laugh.

And they were like, but muscles not funny. You're too big. You got to get fat. You got to get chubby. I was like, no, nope. I'm going to do everything I'm doing. And I remember resisting what everybody was saying.

And people were looking at me like, I've never seen a funny big dude before. You know what I mean? And it changed the game. Did you know when you're shooting that movie and when you rap, did you realize that we got a classic? We got a hit.

We have something that's going to stand the test of time. No, it's fart jokes. No, I'm sitting there. I'm like, if the kids laugh, I'm like, hey, great. Right. No, no. But now people are coming back like that's class man listen my daughter okay she was a baby my daughter is now 20 years old in college she goes to college in san diego they sat over this

summer sitting there watching white chicks she didn't say anything she's like that's my dad like she was a baby when it was when it was came out She's in college, and all her friends are sitting on the rooftop watching white chicks, the whole school cracking up. I'm like, we didn't know. We didn't know, but that's the power of going all out, because it outlasts you. You know what I'm saying? Yes. The legacy outlasts you. Go all out.

You do not get another shot. You see what I'm saying? The legacy outlasts you. Go all out. You do not get another shot. You see what I mean? Like, really, really enjoy. Don't, because this is the thing, too, man. I used to be a complainer, man. I used to be one of them cats. Oh, well, if it ain't perfect. And, man, that's the thing.

When I start to realize, man, what opportunities we have, we got to take it. And I'm just so thankful right now. I'm just like, and you know, just to go on to have this kind of career. Now I got to even flip it to AGT because I told my agent and manager, I said, look, use me as a Guinea pig. I said, where I said, where you would typically see me, don't give me those roles. Give me the roles that you would say, there's no way they were going to hire him. And I said, that's what I want. And they were like, Terry, that's a hard road.

I said, yep, I'm going to take the hard road. And I'll never forget, there was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which was a daytime version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. And Cedric, the entertainer, didn't want to come back. He was like, moving on. And they said, Terry, this is open. I said, give it to me. I said, let me go in, let me audition, let me take it. Because I knew if I learned how to host,

if I learned how to get in front of that camera and show my personality and talk to people or interview people That could be a change that that's a whole nother revenue stream. That's that's a whole nother level of passion, right? So it but it was horrible. Listen who wants to be a millionaire the daytime version nobody watching. Okay, I did 360 episodes of that while I was doing Brooklyn nine-nineine. And people were like, why are you doing this? I would go back on set. They were like, dude, there's no one watching this.

It's crazy. Then I did another show called World's Funniest Fails. And it was like terrible. Nobody was watching it. And I was like, oh, it was on Fox. It was one of them silly shows. And then I hosted TV Land Awards. I was like, but I want to be a host.

Dude, all of a sudden, they got the spinoff for AGT, and I get my shot. I said, and now it's the biggest talent show in the world, bruh. And I've been doing it strong, going on six years, all the iterations. We got a brand new fantasy league coming out. We got the regular AGT's number one show of the summer. And wait, and you got to understand, I ain't a host. I'm not that guy. I came in this thing, but I said, God, give me the strength to learn new skills and let me stay open.

And I will stay humble and I will learn this thing you know what I'm saying it was a lot man but I look at I thank God right now because now I can go two or three ways right I'm looking at you a white chick in some of the lines did you did you just come up with these lines or were they written it's like once you go black you're gonna need a wheelchair I was written so how much leeway did they give you oh no it was a lot it was i mean this is the thing like the dancing they probably let you do your oh yeah that was all me that was all the dancing uh but you gotta understand a lot of this stuff was it was um like the stuff between me and marlin it was like oh sure a little late you sure can't put it

away i mean that's that's me right this stuff, but they let you do it. And then the editor comes in, don't worry about the rest later. But we were coming up with stuff off the head. They were coming up with stuff. They had no idea. And we had no idea, but we just knew. We said, man, we had such a blast doing that movie. Same thing with Longishard.

You had the wrestlers. You had the comedians. You had the football players. I mean, you had all that together and and you had a classic movie you know where i grew up watching the burt reynolds version the first one you're like man this is one reason why i even tried playing football in the first place you're like and dude that's what to me all i can say is that I've been given more opportunities. I must rephrase that. I seized more opportunities because this is the thing given you,

people give you charity opportunities. I don't really give it right. You seize them, right? You, you, you grab it. It's like hunting. It's like sitting in the forest and they're living there watching it.

All of a sudden you see something that you want and you see it. And if you go up to it, it'll run away. But you got to grab it. And I remember just grabbing every little scene, every little thing. I'll never forget getting the opportunity on Expendables. Here I am, man. Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, me! And wait, I wasn't

the first pick. It was supposed to be Wesley Snipes. But Wesley had got down on all that tax stuff, and then they went to Forrest Whitaker, and he couldn't do it, and then they said, oh, well, we got this guy, Terry Crews. I was like, I'm here. Yo. I take it.

Hey, man, I didn't look at that as down most of my stuff has been like man somebody dropped out then and then i'm taking it seizing it and dude here i am in the expendables movie and they gave sly give me that tunnel scene i'm blowing people away boom boom boom boom boom coming through that tunnel and people flipping them up they in the theater jumping up and i'm going who gets this who gets this like to make people laugh to make people jump to make people i i've been given more moments than probably probably any other actor that i know i work with it's cast been on tv 20 years don't get those kind of moments you know what i mean that's where i'm like man and this is where again though had i not been through all that stuff in the nfl i wouldn't have learned what it took you understand

what i'm saying i wouldn't i probably would have got complacent probably would have been like yeah it's automatic and yeah that's what i've seen people get there like yeah you know i should have had that yesterday. But I never feel that way, man. I'm always, especially now that we're losing people, especially now. This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Che Che profile and I'll see you there.

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