Terry Crews was born on July 30, 1968 in Flint, Michigan. He earned an Art Excellence Scholarship to attend Western Michigan University and also earned a full-ride athletic scholarship to play football. Crews was an All-Conference defensive end, and was a major contributor on the 1988 MAC champion WMU Broncos. His college success was rewarded in 1991, when he was Drafted by the NFL's San Diego Chargers.

Crews played in the NFL for six years, including stints with the Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins, and Philadelphia Eagles. While in the NFL, used his art talent by painting a line of NFL licensed lithographs for Sierra Sun Editions.

In 1996, Crews co-wrote and co-produced the independent feature film Young Boys Incorporated.

Crews retired from the NFL in 1997 and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Crews' first break came in 1999 when he auditioned for the extreme sports show called "Battle Dome" with other actor-athletes from around the country. Crews was chosen to be a series regular known as the urban warrior, T-Money.

In 2000, Crews made his big screen debut in "The 6th Day". Since then he has landed roles in "Serving Sara", "Friday After Next", "Deliver Us from Eva", "Malibu's Most Wanted", "Starsky & Hutch", "Soul Plane", "White Chicks", "The Longest Yard", "Harsh Times", "The Alibi", "The Benchwarmers", "Easier, Softer Way", "Idiocracy", and "Inland Empire".

On television, Crews has appeared with a series regular role as Julius, that father of Chris, on "Everybody Hates Chris", and with guest appearances on "My Wife and Kids", "CSI: Miami", and "The District".