It's not surprising that big, burly and bald Crews formerly played for the NFL, but he is a much more nuanced actor than most ex-athletes. After retiring from football in 1998, the imposing-looking Crews made his acting debut on the short-lived, syndicated extreme-sports series Battle Dome. Understandably typecast as a heavy, Crews played an assortment of goofy thugs on both the big and small screens. A role in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard introduced Crews to Chris Rock, who handpicked him to play the strict but infinitely huggable patriarch on the semi-autobiographical sitcom Everybody Hates Chris.