A Special Presentation and Q&A with Terry Crews
Terry Crews is an actor, former NFL football player and a Time Magazine “Person of the Year.” He’s a public advocate for women’s rights and an activist against sexism. Join us as Terry talks about escaping an abusive childhood, his career, his lifelong obsession with strength—and how, after looking for it in all the wrong places, he finally found it.
Why Terry Crews is Captivating Audiences
There are motivational speakers, and then there are “motivational do-ers.” Terry Crews
is the latter. This
bonafide powerhouse—actor, activist, best-selling author, former athlete, and beyond—has
inspired
countless individuals to “do something about it.” “It” can mean many different things
to many different
people: a difficult career choice, a seemingly unattainable goal, an addiction, an
abusive relationship, or
just life in general. Crews speaks from his experience—something he encourages everyone
to do—but
in the process, he is able to relate to universal stories of struggle.
Having endured abuse in childhood, Crews managed to turn his nascent passion for art
into a prestigious
scholarship at a young age, a path that would lead to an athletic scholarship at Western
Michigan University
and, eventually, Crews’ storied career in the NFL. Not content to slow down after
retiring, Crews set
his sights on Hollywood and launched the career for which he is most famous today.
However, Crews will
be the first to tell you that it was no easy ride. Between financial difficulties,
confronting the challenges of
a toxic masculine culture that included treatment for pornography addiction and an
initial hesitance to
talk about his experience with sexual assault in order to heal, Crews could have given
up many times over.
But he refused.
Crews believes that “whatever is meant to destroy you can be your salvation.” With
a combination of
radical honesty, effortless charisma, and infectious enthusiasm, Crews inspires audiences
to overcome
fear and shame, be honest, do the work, and live life to its highest potential.
About Terry Crews
Action-movie hero, sitcom star, children’s book illustrator, advertising pitchman,
playable video game character, talent show host, high-end furniture designer, and
human rights activist all describe the man
that is Terry Crews. The unstoppable Crews starred on the NBC Golden Globe Award-winning
hit series Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which just wrapped its eighth and final season), hosts
NBC’s top rated alternative
series America’s Got Talent (which just wrapped its 16th season) and spin offs AGT
Champions, and AGT Extreme, and stars in the Netflix animated film The Willoughby’s.
Crews is also the face (and muscles) of
Old Spice, a playable character in Microsoft’s Xbox One game Crackdown 3, and a force
in the design and art world where his high-end furniture collection, in partnership
with iconic Bernhardt Designs, has been picking up awards across the country.
Crews was also named one of TIME Magazine’s 2017 “Person of the Year” as one of the
“Silence Breakers,”
speaking out against sexual harassment following the #MeToo movement that has taken
the world
by storm. Crews’ no-holds-barred approach to work has made him a force to be reckoned
with as his
career continues to evolve. Crews was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame this past
summer.
The three-time People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive actor has starred as a series regular
in three consecutive
TV series that have surpassed the coveted 100-episode mark (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Are
We There
Yet? and Everybody Hates Chris), a back-to-back-to-back fete that is extremely rare
in Hollywood. The
diversity of his film career is a perfect example of the complexity and range of his
ability as an actor –
from starring as the hilarious Latrell Spencer in White Chicks to the scary (and ironically
relevant)
President Camacho in Idiocracy to action hero Hale Caesar in The Expendables franchise.
Crews has
also notably been folded into Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions family, appearing
in six of his
films (Sandy Wexler, The Ridiculous 6, Blended, Click, The Benchwarmers and The Longest
Yard). Crews
most recently starred in the critically acclaimed Boots Riley film Sorry to Bother
You opposite Lakeith
Stanfield and Tessa Thompson and in the blockbuster film Deadpool 2. Next up, Crews
is set to star in the
Paramount animated feature film Rumble, which is slated for a February 18, 2022 theatrical
release.
Crews recently added yet another title, children’s book illustrator, for his first-of-its-kind
augmented
reality book, Come Find Me, which is now available for purchase online at ComeFindMeBook.com.
Over
20-years ago, seeing a void of books for brown boys in the marketplace and holding
strong the belief that
‘you cannot be what you cannot see,’ Terry and his then-teammate, Washington Redskins
defensive end
Ken Harvey, developed a book about two brothers, Marcus & Anthony (also the names
of Ken’s sons, who
the book is dedicated to) playing an imaginative game of hide-and-seek while becoming
pilots, conductors,
captains and race car drivers. Adding in a 21st century element, Crews worked with
Augmented
Island Studios to pair the book with an app that truly makes this one-of-a-kind book
come alive.
Earlier this year, Terry and his wife, Rebecca King Crews, released an exclusive Audible
Stronger Together
that shares the staggering ups and downs of their relationship and how they weathered
the crises that
have rocked their marriage. Terry is also gearing up to release his next memoir Tough,
which he likens to
a sequel to his first ever book, Manhood.
Crews, a lifelong artist, also added furniture designer to his resume in 2017 with
the release of his
capsule collection with Bernhardt Designs, which premiered at the International Contemporary
Furniture
Fair in New York and was awarded the prestigious "Best of NeoCon 2017." Always drawing
and sketching
alongside his many day-jobs, Crews joined the ranks of other design-world heavyweights
including Yves
Béhar, Jaime Hayon and Ross Lovegrove who have contributed to Bernhardt's portfolio.
But behind the brawn, bullets, and laughs is a renaissance man from Flint, Michigan
who, as a teen, got his
first big break after high school with an art scholarship at the prestigious Interlochen
Center for the Arts
in Michigan. This was followed by an Art Excellence scholarship and a full-ride athletic
scholarship for
football at Western Michigan University, where, as a star defense end, he helped lead
the Broncos to a
Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship in 1988.
After several years in the NFL (where he painted portraits of teammates to supplement
his income) with
the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles,
Crews
turned his talents to the performing arts, where his talent, hard work, character,
and dedication has made
him one of the most sought out and respected talents in the industry.
A true definition of success, Crews’ life off-screen is as exciting and dynamic as
his public persona.
Crews is the caring husband of more than 30 years to wife Rebecca and proud father
of five. Crews
dedicates his free time to keeping physically fit — both in mind and body—while also
working with several
non-profit organizations including Safe Horizon, Peace Over Violence and the Polaris
Project. For his
dedication in helping these organizations, he was awarded the UN Global Generation
Award at the UN
headquarters and continues to be honored by numerous organizations for his tireless
advocacy in
helping to combat sexual harassment and abuse, domestic violence, and human trafficking.
April 28, 2022
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Nold Athletic Complex, Main Gym
Thank you to all of our attendees, we look forward to seeing you at future events.