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Terry Crews played in the National Football League for five years before coming into the spotlight as one of Hollywood’s most successful actors. The 55-year-old was picked by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1991 NFL Draft and has since played for the San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins (now the Commanders), and Philadelphia Eagles.
Although several NFL players have accumulated fortunes through their careers, Crews recently confessed that this was not the case for him. According to CNBC Make It, in an interview on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, the actor stated that while on the Green Bay Packer’s practice roster in 1993, he earned only $150 weekly over a 6-month period.
“I would have made more money at McDonald’s,” said Crews. “That’s the reality.” Wisconsin’s hourly minimum wage in that year was said to be $4.25 – which was the same amount federally. That meant any person working at a fast food restaurant would have been paid $170 for a 40-hour weekly shift.
In order to make extra money to cushion his finances, The Expendables actor said he offered to paint pictures of his former teammates for a fee. “When I got cut [from a team, I’d] go back in the locker room and ask the players if they wanted their portraits painted,” he recalled, adding that he charged about $5,000 for his services.
Crews, on the other hand, told CNBC Make It in 2018 that he faced financial difficulties after retiring from the NFL. He claimed that a former teammate loaned him money after he moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of becoming an actress.
He, on the other hand, stated that he ended up working as a factory floor sweeper when his ex-teammate ceased financially aiding him. Crews also stated that he was paid $8 per hour at the time, and that he later worked as a security guard for film and television companies. Despite the fact that he was only paid $12 per hour, the position helped him break into the entertainment world.
“I have more money now than I ever had in my entire life … because people understand equity and honor,” Crews said. “People make money, but if they don’t have any equity or honor, it all falls away — and that sounds real existential or spiritual, but it’s for real.”
