Fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker” may want to thank Steve Mariucci for Terry Crews’ turn to television.
Long before Crews played the part of a police officer on the Fox comedy or an office linebacker in the viral video, the actor played football for real — supposedly until a try-out with the 49ers.
Back in the 1990s, Crews was an aspiring NFL player. After playing for Western Michigan, where he was an all-conference linebacker in 1988, the Rams selected Crews in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL Draft.