October 3, 2024 • 29 mins
We continue our conversation Terry Crosby, former professional basketball player and author of ”Do You Have the Balls?” From overcoming challenges to building a legacy of perseverance, Terry offers profound insights on life, leadership, and the drive to succeed.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome to the Voices of Legacy, where you're writing your
legacy every day that you live. We are so thankful
to have you with us today, as we are honored
rather to have our returning guests with us. A true
icon both in the world of sports and in our
community of Toledo, Ohio, mister Terry Crosby. He's made an impact,
(00:47):
to say the least, in our small town and made
a name for himself as a standout athlete, but he
has also been a pillar of inspiration throughout his dedication
to our youth mentip and community leadership. As a Toledo native,
mister Crosby's journey from local high school sports leagues into
(01:09):
professional career in college was nothing short of remarkable. Beyond
the courts, he's continued to uplift and empower others, showing
us all that we can do it. I almost want
you to say that to yourself, I can do it. Today,
we're excited to hear about his continued work and the
(01:30):
lessons he's learned along the way, as his vision and
his vision for the future. Please join us in welcoming
to the Voices of Legacy. Other than mister Terry Crosby.
Good morning, sir. How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You know, And it's such a pleasure to be here
with you, guys.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I absolutely love coming to the WGTE studios just just
you know, talking about life in general and my journey
and you know the impact.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That I've had on people throughout my life.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So it's just the honor. And I really really mean this,
it's just the honor to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
God, we appreciate you, and it's kind of cool to
know that your life is actually making an impact. You're
actually touching people, not only with your story but with
your presence.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, you know what that that is so very very
important for me and it always have been throughout my life.
You know, I'm the type of man that I put
others first, you know what I mean, And that's so
very very important to me, you know, lifting others. If
I'm climbing up the ladder, then I'm going to take
you with me. And you know, quite often in this
(02:38):
world we don't get that kind of heart, that dedication,
that desire, that inspiration that you know, the world is
not built around us as an individuals.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
It's all of us collectively.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
So as I rise, you know, I really feel a
great sense of gratitude when I can improve someone else's life.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
It's the responsibility of any semblance of success to lift
up others. Now, I don't know if too many millionaires billionaires,
but by that measure of success that haven't haven't made
people beneath them wealthy as well. I'm not gonna name drop,
but you know, all of those those large corporations, they
don't become that way with just one person. It's a
(03:25):
it's a group. It's a communal thing, kind of like
the cellular structure of our bodies. When when everything's functioning properly,
we can grow.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
We can grow. And I like that.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
And you know something else I never really understood. I
you know, Lebron James. I just admired a man to
me as a homeboy from Akron, Ohio, you know, uh
and the same state as we are, you know. And
I just admire him for his dedication of how he
always seeks to help other people, but yet he gets ridiculed.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
He's know, he has haters out there. I mean, how
can you hate this man? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Can't be successful without having some Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
And that's That's one thing I find it hard to
come to terms with.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Don't tell me, mister Terry Crosby has haters. You're too
nice to have haters.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I have plenty of them. I don't know if they're
haters or people that are envy or jellus or whatever.
But you know it's okay. I face that throughout my life.
Not that it makes it any easier for me to understand,
but I face that all the way.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
From Pee week competition in football, so.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
That that has been something that I've dealt with throughout
my life and I'm still dealing with.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It, and I still have difficulties. You know.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I just want to hug everybody. I want to love everybody,
and I want us all collectively to work together because
can well just get along?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yes, because when we do, we're so much stronger. Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yes, Well, we thank you for coming back to talk
about your wonderful book and your journey to being an author,
and who knows what's going to come in the future,
maybe a TV movie. You're gonna be on Lifetime, mate,
but we were so thankful that you decided to come
back and to that subject. And now I want to
harp on on the hateration I think is one of
(05:23):
the terms used. I found that the benefit of having
the attention of people, no matter why you have their attention,
is how you handle it. Even in our faith, the
word the Good Book, as it were, tells us that
we're to love our enemies, and it's like keeping hot
(05:44):
coals on their head. And we're not here to destroy anybody,
but as you said, lift them up. Even if they
don't like you, be kind, and sometimes you might have
to walk away, but still be kind.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I like that. I like that a lot.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
But we're going to be talking about your book today
unless you had anything else to talk about.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
It, Well, that's just I just want to elaborate on
that a little bit. That's one thing that I am
pretty good at is despite how someone may feel about me, Yeah,
I so love and intention towards them, so you know,
and and I do it naturally. You know, it's not
a put on. Anything comes from the heart, because I
(06:23):
do genuinely love most people.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I do.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
See we keep talking about that. We're going to be
singing Love Lifted Me here in the second so yeah, awesome, awesome.
Well can you tell us what inspired you to the
title of your auspicious book.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well, the thing is my publisher, Carla DuPont out of
atl Atlanta, Georgia, she worked on that and she came
up with that, and believe it or not, her selling
point to me was she felt that the title suited
my joyous personality. Uh, and I when I first heard it,
(07:04):
I said, we can put that out into the world,
and she was like, well why not?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
We need to do this. But really, the the real muscle.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Behind that title is is really targeted towards all.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Of us throughout our lives. At some point of.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Our life journey, we are we are challenge uh with
with with with different difficulties in life. You know, some
good somebody you know and so do you have the balls?
Question mark is more about what do you have inside
of you that can manage life situations in the most
(07:45):
positive way?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Okay, so what kind of balls?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It's also a double intenttry you play two sports.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Correct, So there is an affiliation with sports, you know,
multi sport athlete, basketball, football, time. You know, that is
my success trail. I mean that that's really uh the
backbone of who I am, you know, being all American
into sports. But it's deeper than that much deeper than that,
and it's relatable too. And I want people to know
(08:16):
that the title is relatable to any.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And every human being, male or female, male or female,
child or infant or teen or whatever, any human being
that is going to be ultimately faced or life challenge.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
How are you going to manage those? Are you going
to deal with those? You know?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Do you have the intestinal fortitude? Which probably wouldn't be
a good time a good title? But do you have
what it takes? I think there is a book that
says so. It's a message that you want to convey
through not only the book itself but its title. Yes,
do you have what it takes?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Do you have the Do you have the ball?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Is the title of the book question Mark by Terry Crosby.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Were thankful for that?
Speaker 1 (09:07):
In your journey from a professional sports to writing? What
lessons did you carry over that helped you shape this book?
Speaker 3 (09:17):
You know what, in any time, and I'm sure most
most former athletes well understand this concept. In any time
you work towards a common goal as a team, then
that's you tend to learn how to win as a team.
I always say that I've never seen many individuals that's
(09:39):
been successful on their own. Okay, there's always a team concept,
you know, somebody behind you, somebody supporting you, and we
all have a pacific role to play in that. And
that is what sports taught me, you know. Okay, I
was a great running back and high squad developers. I
was a fre really decent basketball player. But in my book,
(10:03):
I don't necessarily emphasize the accolades that I achieved because
I couldn't achieve on what all the.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Great teammates that I had.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
And so in recognition of our championship teams, I devots
in football two back to back Super Bowls out of
the University of Toledo. You know, I've mentioned a lot
of my teammates. I didn't do that on my own.
So the emphasis besides, you know, writing the book is
(10:32):
really based upon my life experiences and.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Those positive tools that you generate and that you learn
by being a teammate all the way from my.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Grade school years, all the way through high school, all
the way through college career, NBA Draft, and the thirteen
season I spent overseas. So I have always no manny individually,
how out stand then I may have been. I've always
recognized and honored and admired the fact that I wouldn't
(11:07):
be who I am without my teammates.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Were there any lessons derived from losing?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yes, how to manage moodiness, to be honest with you, because.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
This sounds interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
That is one thing.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
I've always struggled with, is losing, and not because I'm
not a good sportsman at all, and reflection of the
losses and competitive sports that I've experienced in my life.
You know, I didn't blame anybody but myself. So it's like,
(11:47):
what could have you done better? Why didn't you do
this instead of that? You know, so it was really
a self critical reflection of me and my performance.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I guess it's healthy to look at yourself but not
stay in a state of depression in regards to things
that you haven't attained. You can because there's the next game,
Yeah yeah, you can't.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
You gotta get ready. You know.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I spent a couple of hours, you know, moping around
and self reflecting, but you know, when it's all said
and done, you have to get And that's one thing,
a pertinent thing that I put in my book too.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
There's so many.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Intrinsic components in my book is just not about Terry
Crosby and sports. You know, there's so many different chapters
touching on certain things during my.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Life, perseverance and accountability and things of that.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Yes, yes, I mean that's that's just so very very important.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
So the role, what role does leadership play in overcoming
life's challenges, as you discussed in your book.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know what, that's a very very good question.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
And I think for me, based on my own life experience,
leadership is not about power. It's about your ability to
engage and uplift other people. I think that is very
significant when it comes to leadership roles and being a
(13:25):
great leader. You know, again, you have to be selfless.
It's not just about you per se as a person.
It should be about ups you know, it should be
And I think if you can inspire and uplift other people,
for me, that is a really good sign of being
a great leader.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I saw a meme I think it was over the
weekend that had a cart being pulled. In the first
portion of it, at the top of the movement showed
the boss sitting on the card with the workers in
front of him and he's whipping them to move forward,
and then it chilled the center section of a person
that's being a leader in front of those that were
(14:07):
pulling the card, and they were all pulling it together.
Which is that I think is I hope is more
my style of leadership. And then the last one was
the introvert who was on the cart and the cart
wouldn't move in at all because there was nobody doing
the work or he was pulling it by hisself. I
think he's pulling it by hisself. I think a servant
leadership is probably the best kind of leadership, similar to
(14:30):
what you were talking about, and to share your life
experience where those things affected you. I know you've probably
had good coaches, yes, and bad coaches, a good uh
staff in leadership and not so good and I think
it's good to share both. Is everything's not going to
be wonderful.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
And you know what, I've had a you know I've.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Had I've had a great career outside of the world
of sports. You know, I've been involved in you serve says,
I've been involved in mentoring for young offenders. I've been
involved in mental health uh, and I've had an assortment
of bosses. But you know, I have to be perfectly
honest during this interview, The best boss that I've ever
(15:14):
experienced and still experienced experiencing is mister Steve Taylor at
the Taylor AUTOMNIVEFU.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
The guy is just unbelievable. I mean he really really is.
And I have a love of respect for him as
my boss that you know, I'm really grateful for and appreciative.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So he seems like a fun guy.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, he's a lot of fun man's and he's really cool.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
And what I like most about Steevee my boss, is
the fact that he treats everybody equally. Okay, you let's say,
per per team, you have a couple of stars on the.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Team, and then you have the last player on this team, right, Well,
we don't get any preferential treatment because we're the stars
on the team.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
He treats everybody equally and that is so powerful. Well,
that is a sign of a great leader.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
It is because everybody mentally feels the same that they appreciated,
they love their respective.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
So what role does leadership play in the overcoming challenges
in life? As it's discussed in your book?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
You know what, I just I just think, you know, uh,
it's the inspirational side of it. It's remaining resilient because
if you're a boss man, you get pressure, you know,
and uh, you know, I'm I'm I'm in a particular
kind of leadership role and have been for the last
(16:42):
several decades, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And it's not always you.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Know, cake and ice cream, you know, and so you know,
you have to be adaptable. You know, you have to
be what I feel is a great communicator. You know,
you have to uh, you know, resolve difficult situations and
in the most positive of ways, you know, and maintain
your composure and you're poise, so you know, there's a
(17:09):
lot of intrinsics.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
So you think you're pretty good at diffusing conflict based
on your experiences.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Oh, without a dog, yeah, without a dot.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
I mean, that's not a leading question, but I mean
that's a blessing from God, you know. I mean, and again,
that's something that you can train all you want to.
You can go to class all you want to, you
can get all the doctorate degrees you want, you can
get all the.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Whatever, but you never do until something pops off right right.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And a lot of it is DNA, Yeah, I believe
it or not. A lot of it is natural and
it is DNA for me because my mom, she was.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
A great leader.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
I mean, back in the mid sixties, my mom applied.
Now she's a black woman or a woman of color,
my mom applied for a leading secretarial job at Erie
Army Depot in Port Clinton, right, And she went up
against six other Caucasian candidates. Wo in the mid sixties.
(18:12):
And guess what, that Attorney General hired my mother. And
I'll never forget today. She came home excited. I got
to tie, I got to tie.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
So there's you know, there's hope, there's God, there's faith,
there's all.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Of that that comes in experience. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And then my dad was a great leader too. He
lied about his aides when he started working at unicast
a still factory or over there on the East side.
They're closed now. You had to be eighteen to start.
He was only sixteen.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Wow. And he got away with it.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
And he worked himself up all the way into his
death at forty eight years of age to.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Superintendent of the other planet. Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
So when you talk about where is your leadership abilities
or skills come from, I really can't answer that other
than that, I think you Other than the fact that
my parents were leaders. That's awesome, and I was their child.
Can you share personal stories from your book that resonate
(19:16):
deeply in your own life's experience. What is the message
that you're trying to get across with this book. Well, really,
there's a lot of different chapters in the book, and
I wanted the book to be exciting for the reader,
so I didn't really elaborate on Terry Crosby and sports.
Terry Cross and sports. I spoke a little bit about that,
(19:38):
but then I went into the love of my friends
and teammates. I spoke about my parents, I spoke about mentorship,
I spoke about relationships. There's a section in there about
love language. There's a section in there about you know,
when things look gloomy. You know, fifteen years ago, I
was diagnosed as a great you know, two sport athletes.
(20:01):
I was diagnosed with the enlarged heart, which is uh
that serious. You know, anytime you're dealing with heart issues, you.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Know you have to be very, very careful.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
So I think within my book, there's there's so many
different factors in the book, I can't really specifically pick one.
Uh you know, yeah, answering your question because the the
entire book is just just fad.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
The whole thing.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
How do you hope? Do you have the balls? The
title of Terry Crosby's book will impact readers, especially younger generations.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Well, it's authentic, okay, and it gives a true life
journey of Terry Cross Okay. That entails the good, the bad,
and the in between, you know. And there's a lot
of situations within the book that I was put in
that it really took a level of resilience, trust, belief
(21:08):
in faith in myself to get through those particular challenges
in the most positive way, you know. And so a
lot of times, and the book is just not for
the youth. It's for the teens, it's for people fifty
and under. It's for people fifty and older. So the
(21:29):
book you're just a little bit over fifty, Yes, So
the book really is for everybody. But when it comes
to the youth, I think the main thing I want
to say.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Is be your biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Okay, that is very very important because you're gonna get
a lot of naysayers out there. You're going to get
a lot of people that don't want to see you succeed.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
You're gonna have.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
You're gonna face a lot of distractions in your life,
right and all the time, you need to remain focused
on the goal. Okay, And I think that's that's one
of the real, real important things that I want to
emphasize is to believe in yourself. And why not you
(22:16):
so dream big? Yes, because big dreams come true.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
It sounds awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
How does faith and spirituality influence your perspective and your
personal growth? Outline in your book?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
That is so important. Nothing happens in life without the
grace of God. And I mentioned the word God from
chapter one to chapter six all throughout my book. And
so you know, you know I'm faith based. You know,
I grew up going in the church. I still attend
(22:53):
church now. You know, I went to Sunday School when I.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Was, you know, a little boy.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
And so I'm a firm believer that you know, God
is in control of everything. And you can't just ask
God and talk to God when you need a favor, right,
you need to celebrate God when he delivers those outstanding
things in your own life. You know, you need to
(23:19):
thank him, you need to praise him. You need to
recognize that it's not you who's done this. It is God.
My elevation and my increase in life is purely down
to God. Now, I will say, there's been some testing
points in my life and I reflect back now on
(23:43):
those same testing points, and I realized that it was
God controlling that.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Now am I hearing Reverend Terry Crawley.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Calling with your own? I'm thinking about it?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So yeah, you know God, God controls everything. And you know,
I will say that when I first came back to
toled Ohio in twenty twelve to look after my Ellen mom,
I was challenged. Yes, I was challenging regards to finding
the right job. I was challenged in regards to matching
(24:25):
my experiences, my life experiences, with the appropriate job positioning.
I just felt really on an island island on my own.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I really really did. I struggle.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I struggled, But on reflection of thinking back now, that
was God humbling me. Yes, you know, that was God
giving me the chance to recognize and discover what living
in America is.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I like again, because don't forget, I was away for
thirty years Europe.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
In Europe, right, he knew what he was doing and
didn't right, but he wanted me to give me that
great spirit, Okay, to experience what it was like to
move back to the United States right before he decided
that he was going to release me and allow and
(25:17):
allow me to fly like an ego.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
I really really believe that.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So the book is somewhat of a released Yes, okay,
I like that from God. So lastly, how the readers
reacted to your message? And have you been surprised by
any of the feedback that you've gotten this far.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I've been I wouldn't say necessarily surprised. I've been absolutely overjoyed.
For the most part, has been you know, very very
positive feedback from the readers. The reviews have been fantastic,
you know, although you know, I'm trying to emphasize the people,
if you purchase the book, if you read the book.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Please lead me a review.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
And the thing I really appreciate most about it is
a lot of people will look at the cover of
the book and say, oh, this book is about a
good athlete or a great athlete, right, playing sports.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
There's more to that.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
The book is so in depth in regards to so
many other sort of situations and circumstances in life.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
You know, I touch a lot of different areas of
my life.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
So yeah, I am over a joy with the response
is you know, I'm really shocked with the amount of
people who has actually purchased a book. Well, yes, I mean,
you know, I never dreamed that in my wilds of dreams.
But like I want to, I will reiterate, I don't
(26:52):
really care if I don't sell one book. I really don't.
But what I am concerned about and what I do
want to happen.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
For those those who choose to buy my book, right,
it's the content inside of the book.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
You know, it's very powerful and hopefully it will be
very impactful. Again, not just for young people, for teenagers,
you know, for grown adults, for people under fifty and
people over fifty.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
It is it.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Will resonate some of the chapters with any and everybody.
If you're human, you need to buy the book.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Oh that's a good adorsement. Well, we thank you so
much for joining us again on the voices of legacy. Uh,
mister Terry Crosby, the author of Do You Have the Balls?
Do You have the Intestinal Fortitude?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Do You Have the Balls?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
It's available on Amazon. We are so thankful for you
joining with us again. And who knows there may be
a movie somewhere in the works, and we'll have you
back again talk about your movie later on. Thank you
so much, mister Crosby.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
You know, as always, is a pleasure to be here,
and thank you guys. I really really appreciate this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Thank you for listening to the Voices of Legacy. This
is your friend, pastor Carl Mitchell, the third, your hosts
of this program. We want you to go to w
GTE dot org slash legacy to like, share, subscribe, and
hear all of our past podcast and our future podcast.
Be a friend and join with us in the Voices
(28:43):
of Legacy, where you're writing your own legacy every day
that you live.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Have a blessed WGT Voices around us.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
WGT supported in part by the American Rescue Plan Act
funds allocated by the City of Toledo and the Lucas
County Commissioners and administered by the Arts Commission
Welcome to the Voices of Legacy, where you're writing your
legacy every day that you live. We are so thankful
to have you with us today, as we are honored
rather to have our returning guests with us. A true
icon both in the world of sports and in our
community of Toledo, Ohio, mister Terry Crosby. He's made an impact,
(00:47):
to say the least, in our small town and made
a name for himself as a standout athlete, but he
has also been a pillar of inspiration throughout his dedication
to our youth mentip and community leadership. As a Toledo native,
mister Crosby's journey from local high school sports leagues into
(01:09):
professional career in college was nothing short of remarkable. Beyond
the courts, he's continued to uplift and empower others, showing
us all that we can do it. I almost want
you to say that to yourself, I can do it. Today,
we're excited to hear about his continued work and the
(01:30):
lessons he's learned along the way, as his vision and
his vision for the future. Please join us in welcoming
to the Voices of Legacy. Other than mister Terry Crosby.
Good morning, sir. How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You know, And it's such a pleasure to be here
with you, guys.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I absolutely love coming to the WGTE studios just just
you know, talking about life in general and my journey
and you know the impact.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That I've had on people throughout my life.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So it's just the honor. And I really really mean this,
it's just the honor to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
God, we appreciate you, and it's kind of cool to
know that your life is actually making an impact. You're
actually touching people, not only with your story but with
your presence.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, you know what that that is so very very
important for me and it always have been throughout my life.
You know, I'm the type of man that I put
others first, you know what I mean, And that's so
very very important to me, you know, lifting others. If
I'm climbing up the ladder, then I'm going to take
you with me. And you know, quite often in this
(02:38):
world we don't get that kind of heart, that dedication,
that desire, that inspiration that you know, the world is
not built around us as an individuals.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
It's all of us collectively.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
So as I rise, you know, I really feel a
great sense of gratitude when I can improve someone else's life.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
It's the responsibility of any semblance of success to lift
up others. Now, I don't know if too many millionaires billionaires,
but by that measure of success that haven't haven't made
people beneath them wealthy as well. I'm not gonna name drop,
but you know, all of those those large corporations, they
don't become that way with just one person. It's a
(03:25):
it's a group. It's a communal thing, kind of like
the cellular structure of our bodies. When when everything's functioning properly,
we can grow.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
We can grow. And I like that.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
And you know something else I never really understood. I
you know, Lebron James. I just admired a man to
me as a homeboy from Akron, Ohio, you know, uh
and the same state as we are, you know. And
I just admire him for his dedication of how he
always seeks to help other people, but yet he gets ridiculed.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
He's know, he has haters out there. I mean, how
can you hate this man? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Can't be successful without having some Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
And that's That's one thing I find it hard to
come to terms with.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Don't tell me, mister Terry Crosby has haters. You're too
nice to have haters.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I have plenty of them. I don't know if they're
haters or people that are envy or jellus or whatever.
But you know it's okay. I face that throughout my life.
Not that it makes it any easier for me to understand,
but I face that all the way.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
From Pee week competition in football, so.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
That that has been something that I've dealt with throughout
my life and I'm still dealing with.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It, and I still have difficulties. You know.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I just want to hug everybody. I want to love everybody,
and I want us all collectively to work together because
can well just get along?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yes, because when we do, we're so much stronger. Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yes, Well, we thank you for coming back to talk
about your wonderful book and your journey to being an author,
and who knows what's going to come in the future,
maybe a TV movie. You're gonna be on Lifetime, mate,
but we were so thankful that you decided to come
back and to that subject. And now I want to
harp on on the hateration I think is one of
(05:23):
the terms used. I found that the benefit of having
the attention of people, no matter why you have their attention,
is how you handle it. Even in our faith, the
word the Good Book, as it were, tells us that
we're to love our enemies, and it's like keeping hot
(05:44):
coals on their head. And we're not here to destroy anybody,
but as you said, lift them up. Even if they
don't like you, be kind, and sometimes you might have
to walk away, but still be kind.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I like that. I like that a lot.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
But we're going to be talking about your book today
unless you had anything else to talk about.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
It, Well, that's just I just want to elaborate on
that a little bit. That's one thing that I am
pretty good at is despite how someone may feel about me, Yeah,
I so love and intention towards them, so you know,
and and I do it naturally. You know, it's not
a put on. Anything comes from the heart, because I
(06:23):
do genuinely love most people.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I do.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
See we keep talking about that. We're going to be
singing Love Lifted Me here in the second so yeah, awesome, awesome.
Well can you tell us what inspired you to the
title of your auspicious book.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well, the thing is my publisher, Carla DuPont out of
atl Atlanta, Georgia, she worked on that and she came
up with that, and believe it or not, her selling
point to me was she felt that the title suited
my joyous personality. Uh, and I when I first heard it,
(07:04):
I said, we can put that out into the world,
and she was like, well why not?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
We need to do this. But really, the the real muscle.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Behind that title is is really targeted towards all.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Of us throughout our lives. At some point of.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Our life journey, we are we are challenge uh with
with with with different difficulties in life. You know, some
good somebody you know and so do you have the balls?
Question mark is more about what do you have inside
of you that can manage life situations in the most
(07:45):
positive way?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Okay, so what kind of balls?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It's also a double intenttry you play two sports.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Correct, So there is an affiliation with sports, you know,
multi sport athlete, basketball, football, time. You know, that is
my success trail. I mean that that's really uh the
backbone of who I am, you know, being all American
into sports. But it's deeper than that much deeper than that,
and it's relatable too. And I want people to know
(08:16):
that the title is relatable to any.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And every human being, male or female, male or female,
child or infant or teen or whatever, any human being
that is going to be ultimately faced or life challenge.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
How are you going to manage those? Are you going
to deal with those? You know?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Do you have the intestinal fortitude? Which probably wouldn't be
a good time a good title? But do you have
what it takes? I think there is a book that
says so. It's a message that you want to convey
through not only the book itself but its title. Yes,
do you have what it takes?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Do you have the Do you have the ball?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Is the title of the book question Mark by Terry Crosby.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Were thankful for that?
Speaker 1 (09:07):
In your journey from a professional sports to writing? What
lessons did you carry over that helped you shape this book?
Speaker 3 (09:17):
You know what, in any time, and I'm sure most
most former athletes well understand this concept. In any time
you work towards a common goal as a team, then
that's you tend to learn how to win as a team.
I always say that I've never seen many individuals that's
(09:39):
been successful on their own. Okay, there's always a team concept,
you know, somebody behind you, somebody supporting you, and we
all have a pacific role to play in that. And
that is what sports taught me, you know. Okay, I
was a great running back and high squad developers. I
was a fre really decent basketball player. But in my book,
(10:03):
I don't necessarily emphasize the accolades that I achieved because
I couldn't achieve on what all the.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Great teammates that I had.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
And so in recognition of our championship teams, I devots
in football two back to back Super Bowls out of
the University of Toledo. You know, I've mentioned a lot
of my teammates. I didn't do that on my own.
So the emphasis besides, you know, writing the book is
(10:32):
really based upon my life experiences and.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Those positive tools that you generate and that you learn
by being a teammate all the way from my.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Grade school years, all the way through high school, all
the way through college career, NBA Draft, and the thirteen
season I spent overseas. So I have always no manny individually,
how out stand then I may have been. I've always
recognized and honored and admired the fact that I wouldn't
(11:07):
be who I am without my teammates.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Were there any lessons derived from losing?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yes, how to manage moodiness, to be honest with you, because.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
This sounds interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
That is one thing.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
I've always struggled with, is losing, and not because I'm
not a good sportsman at all, and reflection of the
losses and competitive sports that I've experienced in my life.
You know, I didn't blame anybody but myself. So it's like,
(11:47):
what could have you done better? Why didn't you do
this instead of that? You know, so it was really
a self critical reflection of me and my performance.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I guess it's healthy to look at yourself but not
stay in a state of depression in regards to things
that you haven't attained. You can because there's the next game,
Yeah yeah, you can't.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
You gotta get ready. You know.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I spent a couple of hours, you know, moping around
and self reflecting, but you know, when it's all said
and done, you have to get And that's one thing,
a pertinent thing that I put in my book too.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
There's so many.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Intrinsic components in my book is just not about Terry
Crosby and sports. You know, there's so many different chapters
touching on certain things during my.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Life, perseverance and accountability and things of that.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Yes, yes, I mean that's that's just so very very important.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
So the role, what role does leadership play in overcoming
life's challenges, as you discussed in your book.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know what, that's a very very good question.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
And I think for me, based on my own life experience,
leadership is not about power. It's about your ability to
engage and uplift other people. I think that is very
significant when it comes to leadership roles and being a
(13:25):
great leader. You know, again, you have to be selfless.
It's not just about you per se as a person.
It should be about ups you know, it should be
And I think if you can inspire and uplift other people,
for me, that is a really good sign of being
a great leader.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I saw a meme I think it was over the
weekend that had a cart being pulled. In the first
portion of it, at the top of the movement showed
the boss sitting on the card with the workers in
front of him and he's whipping them to move forward,
and then it chilled the center section of a person
that's being a leader in front of those that were
(14:07):
pulling the card, and they were all pulling it together.
Which is that I think is I hope is more
my style of leadership. And then the last one was
the introvert who was on the cart and the cart
wouldn't move in at all because there was nobody doing
the work or he was pulling it by hisself. I
think he's pulling it by hisself. I think a servant
leadership is probably the best kind of leadership, similar to
(14:30):
what you were talking about, and to share your life
experience where those things affected you. I know you've probably
had good coaches, yes, and bad coaches, a good uh
staff in leadership and not so good and I think
it's good to share both. Is everything's not going to
be wonderful.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
And you know what, I've had a you know I've.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Had I've had a great career outside of the world
of sports. You know, I've been involved in you serve says,
I've been involved in mentoring for young offenders. I've been
involved in mental health uh, and I've had an assortment
of bosses. But you know, I have to be perfectly
honest during this interview, The best boss that I've ever
(15:14):
experienced and still experienced experiencing is mister Steve Taylor at
the Taylor AUTOMNIVEFU.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
The guy is just unbelievable. I mean he really really is.
And I have a love of respect for him as
my boss that you know, I'm really grateful for and appreciative.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So he seems like a fun guy.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, he's a lot of fun man's and he's really cool.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
And what I like most about Steevee my boss, is
the fact that he treats everybody equally. Okay, you let's say,
per per team, you have a couple of stars on the.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Team, and then you have the last player on this team, right, Well,
we don't get any preferential treatment because we're the stars
on the team.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
He treats everybody equally and that is so powerful. Well,
that is a sign of a great leader.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
It is because everybody mentally feels the same that they appreciated,
they love their respective.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
So what role does leadership play in the overcoming challenges
in life? As it's discussed in your book?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
You know what, I just I just think, you know, uh,
it's the inspirational side of it. It's remaining resilient because
if you're a boss man, you get pressure, you know,
and uh, you know, I'm I'm I'm in a particular
kind of leadership role and have been for the last
(16:42):
several decades, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And it's not always you.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Know, cake and ice cream, you know, and so you know,
you have to be adaptable. You know, you have to
be what I feel is a great communicator. You know,
you have to uh, you know, resolve difficult situations and
in the most positive of ways, you know, and maintain
your composure and you're poise, so you know, there's a
(17:09):
lot of intrinsics.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
So you think you're pretty good at diffusing conflict based
on your experiences.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Oh, without a dog, yeah, without a dot.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
I mean, that's not a leading question, but I mean
that's a blessing from God, you know. I mean, and again,
that's something that you can train all you want to.
You can go to class all you want to, you
can get all the doctorate degrees you want, you can
get all the.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Whatever, but you never do until something pops off right right.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And a lot of it is DNA, Yeah, I believe
it or not. A lot of it is natural and
it is DNA for me because my mom, she was.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
A great leader.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
I mean, back in the mid sixties, my mom applied.
Now she's a black woman or a woman of color,
my mom applied for a leading secretarial job at Erie
Army Depot in Port Clinton, right, And she went up
against six other Caucasian candidates. Wo in the mid sixties.
(18:12):
And guess what, that Attorney General hired my mother. And
I'll never forget today. She came home excited. I got
to tie, I got to tie.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
So there's you know, there's hope, there's God, there's faith,
there's all.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Of that that comes in experience. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And then my dad was a great leader too. He
lied about his aides when he started working at unicast
a still factory or over there on the East side.
They're closed now. You had to be eighteen to start.
He was only sixteen.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Wow. And he got away with it.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
And he worked himself up all the way into his
death at forty eight years of age to.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Superintendent of the other planet. Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
So when you talk about where is your leadership abilities
or skills come from, I really can't answer that other
than that, I think you Other than the fact that
my parents were leaders. That's awesome, and I was their child.
Can you share personal stories from your book that resonate
(19:16):
deeply in your own life's experience. What is the message
that you're trying to get across with this book. Well, really,
there's a lot of different chapters in the book, and
I wanted the book to be exciting for the reader,
so I didn't really elaborate on Terry Crosby and sports.
Terry Cross and sports. I spoke a little bit about that,
(19:38):
but then I went into the love of my friends
and teammates. I spoke about my parents, I spoke about mentorship,
I spoke about relationships. There's a section in there about
love language. There's a section in there about you know,
when things look gloomy. You know, fifteen years ago, I
was diagnosed as a great you know, two sport athletes.
(20:01):
I was diagnosed with the enlarged heart, which is uh
that serious. You know, anytime you're dealing with heart issues, you.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Know you have to be very, very careful.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
So I think within my book, there's there's so many
different factors in the book, I can't really specifically pick one.
Uh you know, yeah, answering your question because the the
entire book is just just fad.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
The whole thing.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
How do you hope? Do you have the balls? The
title of Terry Crosby's book will impact readers, especially younger generations.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Well, it's authentic, okay, and it gives a true life
journey of Terry Cross Okay. That entails the good, the bad,
and the in between, you know. And there's a lot
of situations within the book that I was put in
that it really took a level of resilience, trust, belief
(21:08):
in faith in myself to get through those particular challenges
in the most positive way, you know. And so a
lot of times, and the book is just not for
the youth. It's for the teens, it's for people fifty
and under. It's for people fifty and older. So the
(21:29):
book you're just a little bit over fifty, Yes, So
the book really is for everybody. But when it comes
to the youth, I think the main thing I want
to say.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Is be your biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Okay, that is very very important because you're gonna get
a lot of naysayers out there. You're going to get
a lot of people that don't want to see you succeed.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
You're gonna have.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
You're gonna face a lot of distractions in your life,
right and all the time, you need to remain focused
on the goal. Okay, And I think that's that's one
of the real, real important things that I want to
emphasize is to believe in yourself. And why not you
(22:16):
so dream big? Yes, because big dreams come true.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
It sounds awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
How does faith and spirituality influence your perspective and your
personal growth? Outline in your book?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
That is so important. Nothing happens in life without the
grace of God. And I mentioned the word God from
chapter one to chapter six all throughout my book. And
so you know, you know I'm faith based. You know,
I grew up going in the church. I still attend
(22:53):
church now. You know, I went to Sunday School when I.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Was, you know, a little boy.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
And so I'm a firm believer that you know, God
is in control of everything. And you can't just ask
God and talk to God when you need a favor, right,
you need to celebrate God when he delivers those outstanding
things in your own life. You know, you need to
(23:19):
thank him, you need to praise him. You need to
recognize that it's not you who's done this. It is God.
My elevation and my increase in life is purely down
to God. Now, I will say, there's been some testing
points in my life and I reflect back now on
(23:43):
those same testing points, and I realized that it was
God controlling that.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Now am I hearing Reverend Terry Crawley.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Calling with your own? I'm thinking about it?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So yeah, you know God, God controls everything. And you know,
I will say that when I first came back to
toled Ohio in twenty twelve to look after my Ellen mom,
I was challenged. Yes, I was challenging regards to finding
the right job. I was challenged in regards to matching
(24:25):
my experiences, my life experiences, with the appropriate job positioning.
I just felt really on an island island on my own.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I really really did. I struggle.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I struggled, But on reflection of thinking back now, that
was God humbling me. Yes, you know, that was God
giving me the chance to recognize and discover what living
in America is.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I like again, because don't forget, I was away for
thirty years Europe.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
In Europe, right, he knew what he was doing and
didn't right, but he wanted me to give me that
great spirit, Okay, to experience what it was like to
move back to the United States right before he decided
that he was going to release me and allow and
(25:17):
allow me to fly like an ego.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
I really really believe that.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So the book is somewhat of a released Yes, okay,
I like that from God. So lastly, how the readers
reacted to your message? And have you been surprised by
any of the feedback that you've gotten this far.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I've been I wouldn't say necessarily surprised. I've been absolutely overjoyed.
For the most part, has been you know, very very
positive feedback from the readers. The reviews have been fantastic,
you know, although you know, I'm trying to emphasize the people,
if you purchase the book, if you read the book.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Please lead me a review.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
And the thing I really appreciate most about it is
a lot of people will look at the cover of
the book and say, oh, this book is about a
good athlete or a great athlete, right, playing sports.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
There's more to that.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
The book is so in depth in regards to so
many other sort of situations and circumstances in life.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
You know, I touch a lot of different areas of
my life.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
So yeah, I am over a joy with the response
is you know, I'm really shocked with the amount of
people who has actually purchased a book. Well, yes, I mean,
you know, I never dreamed that in my wilds of dreams.
But like I want to, I will reiterate, I don't
(26:52):
really care if I don't sell one book. I really don't.
But what I am concerned about and what I do
want to happen.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
For those those who choose to buy my book, right,
it's the content inside of the book.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
You know, it's very powerful and hopefully it will be
very impactful. Again, not just for young people, for teenagers,
you know, for grown adults, for people under fifty and
people over fifty.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
It is it.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Will resonate some of the chapters with any and everybody.
If you're human, you need to buy the book.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Oh that's a good adorsement. Well, we thank you so
much for joining us again on the voices of legacy. Uh,
mister Terry Crosby, the author of Do You Have the Balls?
Do You have the Intestinal Fortitude?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Do You Have the Balls?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
It's available on Amazon. We are so thankful for you
joining with us again. And who knows there may be
a movie somewhere in the works, and we'll have you
back again talk about your movie later on. Thank you
so much, mister Crosby.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
You know, as always, is a pleasure to be here,
and thank you guys. I really really appreciate this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Thank you for listening to the Voices of Legacy. This
is your friend, pastor Carl Mitchell, the third, your hosts
of this program. We want you to go to w
GTE dot org slash legacy to like, share, subscribe, and
hear all of our past podcast and our future podcast.
Be a friend and join with us in the Voices
(28:43):
of Legacy, where you're writing your own legacy every day
that you live.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Have a blessed WGT Voices around us.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
WGT supported in part by the American Rescue Plan Act
funds allocated by the City of Toledo and the Lucas
County Commissioners and administered by the Arts Commission
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