After retiring from football in 1998, the imposing-looking Crews made his acting debut on the short-lived, syndicated extreme-sports series Battle Dome. Meanwhile, he made his film debut in the 2000 action flick The 6th Day. As his acting career picked up momentum, he continued to play an assortment of goofy thugs on both the big and small screens. His supporting comedic roles were mostly in slapstick fare including as Serving Sara (2002), White Chicks (2004), Starsky & Hutch (2004) and Soul Plane (2004). 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. In 2010, Crews was cast as a dad again on the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet? and also showcased his real-life brood in the BET reality series The Family Crews. While working steadily on TV, he continued to appear in films such as the action-packed Sylvester Stallone flick The Expendables.