September 19, 2024 • 35 mins
We sit down with Toledo, Ohio’s very own Terry Crosby, former professional basketball player and author of ”Do You Have the Balls?” Join us as Terry shares his remarkable journey from the courts of Toledo to the world of professional basketball, and how the lessons he learned through the game shaped his life both on and off the court. 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
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome to the Voices of Legacy. This is Pastor Carl E.
Mitchell third. I had to put the three on there.
We're honored today to have a gentleman I don't know
about a scholar. I guess he's a scholar too. The
privilege is definitely ours. As we introduced our esteem guests
to this edition of the Voices of Legacy, where your
legacy is being written every day that you live. Today,
(00:46):
we are joined by a true hometown hero and a
former basketball star who's impact on and off the court
has been indelible and it has left a mark not
only on our city, but across the globe. Mister Terry Crosby,
Toledo native who rose to prominence as a high school
(01:07):
basketball phenomenon. As it were, I believe it was de
vilbis Was it correct? Yes, good to go Amen Tigers.
Whereas extraordinary, extraordinary talent caught the tension of sports enthusiasts
and scouts alike. His stellar performance led to him playing
in collegiate basketball for the University of Tennessee as well
(01:30):
as professional basketball both stateside and abroad. Terry's basketball career
took him to a professional level where he played both
in the United States and as I said, overseas, showcasing
his skills globally. And I think he may have had
a Guinness World Book of Records recording in regards to
(01:52):
a seven was it seventy three point performance? Oh my goodness. Wow?
So that means he's good. Y'all, We welcome to the
table talk of today. I think that's already copywritten to
the voices of Legacy. Legacy rather mister Terry Crosby, Good morning, afternoon,
or whenever you're listening to this. Mister Terry, how are
(02:14):
you today?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I'm doing absolutely fine this morning. And you know, first
of all, I just want to uh say thank you
to w Gte and uh and and yourself, Pastor Carl
and your work colleagues. I'm really really excited to be
here and you know, just to share a little bit
about my story and and just try to impact the world.
(02:35):
So thank you very much for having me. That's awesome.
That's awesome, and that's what we want to do. We
want to share the testimonies of those that have gone
before us as well as those that are still here.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
To be able to impact the world. Your story, your
testimony will bring not only healing, but it'll educate people.
There's somebody that that's aspiring to the level that you've been,
or there's somebody that has a story unto whole that
I think your story is going to encourage and speaking
to your story. You have a book coming out pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Correct that I'm really really excited about.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It's it's been a five year project and you know,
it's not been an easy process. But the book is
not necessarily about me. It's about my parents, It's about
the village I grew up in on the West Side.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's about the recruitment process.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Choosing a particular college that that I wanted to attend.
It's about life, it's about mentoring, it's about my teammates.
It's about communication, uh, marriage, relationships, mentoring. So there's a
plethora of different things that I hope would actually change
(03:46):
somebody life and again impact the world.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So you're from the West Side, West Side, yes, sir,
park all right. My family had had our family home,
we had a family I'm on Glenwood and I was
born on Palmwood on the west Side. But nevertheless, we
know about the West Side, the Old west End, thank
God for that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Really the area of Bancroft in Upton. Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Oh wow wow. So you're a true Toledo native.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yes, born and born and raised here.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I was, I grew I was born here obviously, and
I went to uh Nathan Elementary and then on to.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Devloba's High School.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So yeah, I am a true uh Toledo product.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So when did you start getting the gross spurt?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Well, you know, I always.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Been kind of tall and skinny, uh even in grade school.
And I'm not that big really, to be honest with you.
You know, I'm I'm six four. I'm getting a little
older now. So I was a little bit disappointing when
I went to my doctor the other day and he said.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I was six three, you know, so starting to do
the shrinking product.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I guess I'm shrinking.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But yeah, I had a wonderful life and so I'm
just so really really pleased to be here to to share.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
A little bit.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
We'll share something about us, about us, about you that
we don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well there there there's a lot of different things. But
I think the one thing that I would like to
speak on is the fact that I'm an only child,
and most I would never guess.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Uh, most people wouldn't imagine that.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Uh, just just what my outgoing personality and uh, you
know how I carry myself and and and.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
You know with that comes or came a lot of challenges.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
You know, uh in regards to growing up and not
having any brothers and sisters. So if you got an
argument at some point or disagreement with somebody in your life,
no backup. I didn't have the brothers and sisters to turnity.
You know, I had to deal with it myself. So
I was quite fortunate. And thing I will say about
(06:02):
my parents, they taught me extremely well. And the one
thing that they did instill in me was you have
to work for everything you want in life. Nobody's going
to feel sorry for you, nobody's going to give you anything.
And the main thing, well to two other things, is
the fact that you have to believe in yourself. Okay
(06:25):
that that that that's one thing. And the other thing
that they really emphasized is that you know, everything is
kind of control by almighty gods.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
And so faith plays a part in your story.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Church Board church boy.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
From a very very young age, you know, I got
to ask what church I went to a Lutheran church.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I forget the name of it now.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
It was on Pinewood, right on the corner of Pinewood, Okay,
And it.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Was a Lutheran church you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yes, Yes, it's torn down now obviously, but that's the
church that I attend, and then various other churches throughout
my throughout my.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Life in high school at the vilbas High School. What
were some of the things that you remember most affectionately there?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Again, there's so many different things, but one of the
first things that really comes to my mind is the
fact that, yes, championships are great. We went to back
to back Shoe Bowls high school football championships. We had
a very competitive basketball team. But behind the scenes, again
(07:37):
when you mentioned the word team, that's about how you
treat each other.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And we were.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
One of the advantages that we had is that I
feel that.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
We were extremely mature.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
At de Ville was for our age, you know, and
we all respected each other, okay, we all courted each
other okay, and for the most part we hung out
with each other y you know. So it was a
really family type of togetherness, which I believe uh led
to a lot of successors at development. So it's just
(08:15):
the maturity leveled when I reflect back that as high
school students, uh, you know, we were really serious about
life in general and and really treating each other well.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You know, for instance, in the.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Locker room for us uh a, and the sports that
we competed in football and basketball, there was no laughing
and joking, right.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
We were focused. We were about the business.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yes, we were about to business. So there wasn't a
lot of tit tatt in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
You know. Everybody uh kind.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Of like in their own zone, you know what I mean,
uh a, and just ready to go so y. You know,
those are the type of things that that I think
with my experience of those things was a little bit
different than most people you know, had to understood.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So you played two sports.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yes, I was a two sport All American and basketball
football recruited by over one hundred d one colleges my
senior year age DeVos.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Now that a tension affect you being an only child
and all.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That, you know what, I think I dealt with it
extremely well because at that age, for some reason, I
thought that that was the norm to be recruited by
so many colleges, you know, of course, you know I was.
I was, you know, a decent athlet on a football
(09:45):
field and the basketball court. But I think, you know,
my young mind at the time didn't really realize the
magnitude of you know, all these college universe He's coming
after me, you know, for both football and basketball.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I'm pretty sure your parents were pretty proud.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
They were.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
They were, I mean, they were extremely proud, but again
it was kind of expected from my parents.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
For instance, when I was.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
In grade squad, I played for a football team called
the Avensdale Coats, right, and.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I was pretty good, I have to admit back.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
In the day, and the local media kind of nicknamed
me touched down Terry Okay, because it seemed like every
time I touched.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
The ball get attention.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yeah, I like broke away for a touchdown. So me,
my mom and dad would be sitting at the dinner table,
and they were always the type of parents that didn't
really let me know how proud they were of me.
So if I scored three touchdowns in one game, right,
they wouldn't kind of say, oh, you had a great
(10:58):
game today, you scored three toestdowns.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Take out the garbage.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Both my mom and dad would literally say Yeah, you
had a pretty good game, but and we know you
scored three to stuff, but what about this.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Don't you think you could have scored again on this?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You know, we were kind of expecting you not to
score three to sound, but you could add six. So
they were playing these for me reflecting bad they they were.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
That was they.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Were their way or their twols to keep me humble, okay,
and not let me get out of the box of
thinking that I'm this and everything.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
It sounds like, raise your expectations and beyond what it
is that you see eat that you can do, there's
always something more that you can accomplish. That's awesome. Sounds
like you had pretty good parents.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, they were.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
They they were beautiful man, absolutely, and and they always
taught me, son, you need to be your big, biggest
chella hmmm, she said your mom, They would say your
mom and dad was We're going to always support and
love you and whatever you choose to do in life,
but you first and foremost.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Need to be your biggest believe in yourself. Yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Your transition, well that was that was before high school
what you were just talking about then into high school
and from high school to collegiate with Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Was it, Yes, University of Tennessee and Knoxville.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So I was that transition.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Uh, that was that was very hectic, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Just reflecting by and I'm just amazed at the experiences
that I've been given. Like, for instance, for several months,
the house state had football coach back then, Uh what
he Hayes Coach Hayes and bo Sembleckler from the University
of Michigan was only at my house like every week
(13:03):
for a whole two months, but also my friend's house
who lived are door away from me. Okay, so we
lived at twenty twelve, mister Frowleigh Bell lived at twenty
oh eight, and we're both highly recruited by Bowl and
coaches from Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
So it was again at the time, so normal. Yeah,
I thought nothing of it, like you know, and I
have to admit.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
They're not going to everybody's house like house.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
But I have to admit, as I've gotten older, those
life experiences that I've been so blessed to have, they
are becoming more and more important to me, you know.
Or reflecting, I would sit down and be looking at
something on TV and I'll just say, wow, you know,
(13:57):
do you realize that, you know, the magnitude of your
experiences when you were when you were being recruited.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Makes you appreciate it? Yes, more so and and also
pro Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
To be honest with you, yeah, and also pro so.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
And then and then there wasn't only what he and
and and and ball. There were there was USC coaches.
I received a letter from, uh, the legendary John Wooton
back in the day from u c l A basketball
and Ralph read out from USC.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
It was just all those different schools. What made you
choose Tennessee?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Well, you know what, my mother had a lot to
do with that because she she she was raised by
her grandparents and Clarksville, Tennessee. Uh.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
She went to Clarksville High School.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I believe Clarksville just had one high school back in
the day. They probably got half several more now. But
she actually went to school with Wilma Rudolph the track start. Yeah,
and they played together on same basketball team back in
the day. And so when she started explaining to me
that the difference between the south, the South and the North,
(15:11):
she she had a lot of influence. So I'm ch
waste her to go to University of Tennessee just because
she was born and raised here. My mom didn't come
back to Toledo to be with her biological mother until
she was sixteen years of age, so that that's when
she transitioned back to Toledo. And you know, we used
(15:36):
to always laugh in joke. She is a proud, proud
Scott bulld All Greta.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
How does that work out? Mister didn't? That's funny. So
you went to Tennessee, you did all four.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Years, yes, all four years.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Absolutely wonderful, and then transitioned from there too.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Well.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I got drafted and in the National Basketball Association for
the Kansas City Kings, and I played a low wall
for them, and then, unfortunate at the time, due to
political reasons, I got released from the team.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
And then you went international.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Uh No, I actually came back here and worked a
little while.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So some good friends of mine, Mike Carter, their journeyman,
mister Mike Counnor and Robert Bean.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Uh they got me.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
An excellent job at for me to nuclear site, oh wow,
up in Newport, Michigan and check this out as a
quality control inspector.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So I knew nothing about nothing, right.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You were the Homer Simpson, and I think.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I think even back then, and I'm talking of the eighties, eighties, right,
forty two dollars hour? Wow, forty two dollars, And I
was I was a little jealous of Mike and Robert
Bean because they had been journeymen for I don't know,
twenty five years at the time, and they were earning
like maybe one hundred and sixty dollars hour. So I
(17:09):
was like, well, why is it that I'm earning forty
two dollars hour and you guys are earning like one
sixty bus It was a great experience. And again, you know,
I think, well, I know for a fact that I
was I was offered that job just because of my background,
just because of the fact that.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
They knew me.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
They knew I went to the University of Tennessee, they
knew I was a great athlete, and you know, that
kind of got me in the door because I knew
nothing about quality control inspection.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Well, thank god, we all survived that experience. So you
did that for how long? And then went to international basketball?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yes, So how that happened was I was there for
about six months, really sullenly in here, you know, I
didn't really like to travel from Toledo to Newport every
every day or every morning, but it was strange.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I got a call from a guy called mister Craig Lynx.
He was a start high.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
School I mean he was a superstar in high school.
I mean basketball, very very good. In fact, he he
was a start high school lead and scorer for many
years before mister Anthony Henderson Junior broke his record recently.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
And he just called me out of the bing full and said, hey,
this is Craig Linz. I was like, Craig, how you doing, man?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Man?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You know, he said, I'm I've been a player of
coach now over in England for six years and I
see that that you may be available. I would like
for you to come over here and play with me. Uh,
not for me, but with me, because Craig at the
time was still playing, but he was a coach as well,
(18:58):
so he was he was a player coach, and we
had negotiations. And it's funny, you know sometimes how naive
Americans are, especially.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Have you ever been overseas, especially in the eighties.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
So one of the questions that I asked him was,
so England, is that where their their main transportation is
horse and buggy. And the answer was his his ass,
It was, let me think about it, if I actually
(19:35):
want to bring you over there, He's like, no, mister Gray, no,
we have cars over here, you know type of things.
So yeah, it was. It was so funny. So, yeah,
that was my first experience of going to Manchester, England.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
So we had to still be relatively in pretty good
shape if you'll did six months there at the nuclear.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Oh I was in great shape. Yeah I was. So
you could still play oh yeah, oh yeah I was
because of what at the time.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
My mental thoughts were, you have to stay in safe
because the NBA team is gonna call you. Yeah, okay,
eventually they're gonna call you, and you need to be ready.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Yeah you know. So I had that kind of mentality
at the time. That's good. Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
So your experience in England, I guess this is almost
like another book. How was that? That had to be
one heck of a transition. You've never been abroad before.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
It was absolutely tough. I mean it really was.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
It really was, and you know, a lot of times,
even to the present day, people think that the USA
and England is very much the same based on us
speaking the same language. But other than that, it's a
whole different way, a whole different universe. And you know,
(21:04):
fortunately for me, I've been always kind of mentally tough,
uh and determined, and you know, when I got there,
it was tough. You know, the people are different, the
food's different. They drive on the other side of the road,
the steering wheel is on the other side of the car, right,
and so this is hilarious. My first year there. Obviously,
(21:28):
part of the contract was they would supply me would
a little get around car, nothing, nothing, you know, fancy,
but unfortunately I wrecked like four carsh my.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Goodness, no more cars for you.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So eventually before the season was over. That is exactly
what was related to me, Crosby.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
We cannot give you a nothing car type of thing.
But yeah, it was different.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
It was tough, and you know, I mentioned, well, I
have a chap on my international experience and my buck
and you know, I just put it out there. You know,
if you're thinking about going abroad to play, then more
so than the physical aspect of being good enough, it's
more so the mental thing.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
The mental tough because you needed that.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Focus that you were talking about back in high school
and from home h to actually get along there.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I'm sure, yes I did. I did, you know.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
And I always base my entire life around the things
that I was I was taught as a child, because
it's carried me so far in my life.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Really, I got to ask you, your mom wants you
to go?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yeah, she was.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
She was ready for me to go because I was
getting on her nerves, she was, you know, And and
being home in Toledo, you know, it's you know, it's
not always good, you know, you know what I mean,
just just because of the certain things that that are
happening in oighborhoods.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And our community and blend in you kind of have
to devalue yourself sometimes at least mentally, you don't necessarily
have to do that, but when you have that type
of attention, I could see where that could be an
issue or concern. So all that led back to you
getting involved in the community here. How did you get
from all of that right back to Toledo.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Well, that's again let me mention this again.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
As an only child, I was over in Great Bretain
with my family because I have a beautiful son and
daughter over there that are very very successful. Leondale Crosby
is my son. I think he's thirty three now, and
Ebone Marie Crosby, she's twenty four.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
So I was in a twenty two.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Year marriage, well relationship, we weren't married, and we had
two kids together. So I came over here, and I'm
twenty twelve, just to check on my mom because my
friends were calling me, Santi, you gotta come home, man,
(24:09):
I know you got family there. Your mother's not doing well.
She's really sick. And bear in mind I'm the only child. Yeah, okay,
so we had I made the family decision to come
over to check on her. I was here for two
weeks on a visit, and I came because I wanted
to see, you know, how sick she was. And during
(24:34):
that span of two weeks, I realized that, yes, she
was very sick. So I went back to Great Britain
and we set around the dinner table and I was like, look,
I gotta go back and take care of my mom.
You know, after twenty two years of you know, family
life with my beautiful family in Great Britain, and so.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Your wife's from there, yes for you spread the mother Okay, yeah,
she's ready she's busy.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
And so they were kind enough and thoughtful enough to say, Okay,
you know, you got it. You have to do what
you have to do. So you know, one mind, I
always here, uh, checking on my mom. I flew back
to Great Britain, and then like two months later after that.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
I came back to it to look after her.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Well that's a heck of a sacrifice. But it's mom,
and you only get one.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
You only get one.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Well, and I will say, in all honesty, and you
know this is sincere for my heart if I had
to make that same decision again. I mean, it was
a tough decision. Yeah, I mean what father wants to
leave their kids, you know, or or their partner, you
know what I mean. But that's my mama. Yeah, so
(25:50):
that's the And with me being the only child too,
it's not like I could turn to brothers and sisters
to take up the slack or whatever.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
So she has yep. Well, and we were very close.
We were extremely close. So when did your mom pass?
Twenty twelve?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
November November seventeen, twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Well, and you've been here ever since.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Been here ever since, and I haven't. And I'm a
little disappointed about this. I haven't been back to Great
Break since twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Oh my goodness, but my children have been over here.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
No good, good good good good good.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
So I'm saying, and no, it wasn't. It was last summer.
I believe. I have three children. Okay, I have an
older daughter that lives in Columbus. We had a great time.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
All three of my kids was here, was here with
their father and grandkids.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, I have grandkids. I have five grandkids and four
great grands What.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
That's awesome. That's awesome. So the legacy will continue.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
That's one of our catchphrases. That's an amazing story. So
all that led to you getting back involved here in
the community and sharing your stories and speaking to young
adult groups and such. How do you think your life?
Everything that we've covered today, and I'm sure there's plenty
(27:14):
other things that we haven't talked about, maybe some stuff
that we can't talk about it, how did that lead
you into mentorship with young men here in Toledo?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
You know what, that is something that has been instilled
in me for a very, very long time.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
That is something I thoroughly enjoy. When I was at
the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I used to come home during the summer as my
freshmen and sophomore years and do Terry Crosby basketball clinics
over at Nathan Lle Elementary.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Awesome and how that worked out at the time.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
The young ones would come in in the morning for
a couple hours and every day Monday to Friday. We
were off at the weekends, and then when they got finished,
we broke off for lunch for about hour, and then
the adults will coming, you know, the older guys, and
then we were all play from like one to three.
So that's you know, speaking to young people, trying to
(28:12):
encourage young people, trying to inspire not just young people,
but any and everybody that I encounter.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
You know, because I have adults that call me right
now and.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Just want to talk, you know what I mean, because
they know the goodness in my heart and they know
that I'm going to further encourage them to believe in
themselves and whatever whatever endeavors that they're you know, trying
to seek or follow.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
So that is kind of always been instilled in me.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
My father was a great community leader, leon Dale Crosby.
He worked as a super He was a superintendent at
unic as it was a still factory back in the day.
And so a lot of thinking about others before you
think about self comes from both my parents.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Okay, so I was.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
The only child growing up in the West Side. Both
my parents had very good jobs back at this time.
In fact, we were the only We were the I believe,
the second African American family that was able to move
in that neighborhood back in nineteen sixty four. So the
(29:28):
Crossby household as was kind of always the flop house,
you know, because both my parents had very good jobs,
and they were very kind and forthcoming in regards to
helping other people.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
So, you know, all of my friends would just.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Come over to my house and she would feed whole
neighborhoods well, you know, big pots of great home cooked
food on the stove, you know. And I have a
funny joke to tell. One time we were all together
over my mom's and we were eating really good food,
and I think she, I think at the time she
(30:07):
was she fried some chicken, We had grains, we had
macaroni cheese, we had candy, yams, cornbread, homemade corn bread,
you know, everything that kills you, you know, Yeah, and
and and one of my friends he had, like I
don't know, it was like six kids in this family,
(30:29):
and he was so excited.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
He absolutely piled his plate up.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
He had like four pieces of chicken on his plate,
like the vegetables were like spelling off the side of
his plate. And to show you how classy my mom was,
she was like, son, you you don't need to put
all that on your plate at once. Don't you see
all that food up there, there's plenty for everybody. Put
(30:56):
some back and and then eat what you have, and
then you can come back six times if you won't,
because you know, so, it's just those little intrinsic things
that I was called at a very young age, and
obviously my mom and dad shared those with our community.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Awesome, awesome, awesome. So the question of the day, as
we're wrapping this up, when you reflect on your career
and your life, what do you hope your legacy will
be and how would you want to be remembered, both
in Toledo and beyond.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
You know, I have a little statement, and I just
want people to remember me as an inspirational person, a motivator,
one who cared for others before himself. Yes, and that
he gave back much more than he ever received.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Awesome, awesome, awesome, great answer.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
Answer.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
We're so thankful to have you here. It's been a
pleasant living legacy. I'm we'll have to get an autograph
on some of the pictures we produced today, but we
are we're thankful to have you here to share your story.
The book title. We can't leave here without talking about
the book title. What is the title of your book?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Okay, let me go here. We got one, two, three?
Do you have the balls? Question mark?
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Bye, mister Terry Crosby. That's an awesome name. I think
you might sell a million just on that alone.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Well, certainly people were picking up and oh yeah, I'm
thinking you gotta have a good picture. Oh yeah, I've
got forty six pictures throughout it. So if you ever
think about writing a book, then I know what you're
getting yourself into.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
You can probably write a book on writing a book.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
It's and it takes a lot. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I think there's two words that I like to share
with three people when producing and writing a book with
the help of a publisher.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
That those two words are joy and pain. That's what
it is. That's what this experience is giving me.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Well, we look forward to sharing that as well. It
might have to have you back on just to talk
about your book once you get it.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
I would love that. Man.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
I love you guys here at wgt Man, It's like, yeah,
well we love you too.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
I would like to come back.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
And we're so thankful to have you here on the
Voices of Legacy here on w gt E the Voices
around Us initiative. Thank you for listening to the Voices
of Legacy today, each and every one of you. We
appreciate you following us on wgt E dot org ford
slash Legacy and listening to these interviews. And we're so
thankful again for our guest today, mister Terry Crosby, a
(33:45):
Toledo legend that I think he has a little bit
of legacy yet for us as we look forward. Thank
you for listening to the Voices of Legacy. This is
(34:06):
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 of legacy,
(34:27):
where you're writing your own legacy every day that you live,
have a blessing.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
WGT voices around US.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
WGT is 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. This is Pastor Carl E.
Mitchell third. I had to put the three on there.
We're honored today to have a gentleman I don't know
about a scholar. I guess he's a scholar too. The
privilege is definitely ours. As we introduced our esteem guests
to this edition of the Voices of Legacy, where your
legacy is being written every day that you live. Today,
(00:46):
we are joined by a true hometown hero and a
former basketball star who's impact on and off the court
has been indelible and it has left a mark not
only on our city, but across the globe. Mister Terry Crosby,
Toledo native who rose to prominence as a high school
(01:07):
basketball phenomenon. As it were, I believe it was de
vilbis Was it correct? Yes, good to go Amen Tigers.
Whereas extraordinary, extraordinary talent caught the tension of sports enthusiasts
and scouts alike. His stellar performance led to him playing
in collegiate basketball for the University of Tennessee as well
(01:30):
as professional basketball both stateside and abroad. Terry's basketball career
took him to a professional level where he played both
in the United States and as I said, overseas, showcasing
his skills globally. And I think he may have had
a Guinness World Book of Records recording in regards to
(01:52):
a seven was it seventy three point performance? Oh my goodness. Wow?
So that means he's good. Y'all, We welcome to the
table talk of today. I think that's already copywritten to
the voices of Legacy. Legacy rather mister Terry Crosby, Good morning, afternoon,
or whenever you're listening to this. Mister Terry, how are
(02:14):
you today?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I'm doing absolutely fine this morning. And you know, first
of all, I just want to uh say thank you
to w Gte and uh and and yourself, Pastor Carl
and your work colleagues. I'm really really excited to be
here and you know, just to share a little bit
about my story and and just try to impact the world.
(02:35):
So thank you very much for having me. That's awesome.
That's awesome, and that's what we want to do. We
want to share the testimonies of those that have gone
before us as well as those that are still here.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
To be able to impact the world. Your story, your
testimony will bring not only healing, but it'll educate people.
There's somebody that that's aspiring to the level that you've been,
or there's somebody that has a story unto whole that
I think your story is going to encourage and speaking
to your story. You have a book coming out pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Correct that I'm really really excited about.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It's it's been a five year project and you know,
it's not been an easy process. But the book is
not necessarily about me. It's about my parents, It's about
the village I grew up in on the West Side.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's about the recruitment process.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Choosing a particular college that that I wanted to attend.
It's about life, it's about mentoring, it's about my teammates.
It's about communication, uh, marriage, relationships, mentoring. So there's a
plethora of different things that I hope would actually change
(03:46):
somebody life and again impact the world.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So you're from the West Side, West Side, yes, sir,
park all right. My family had had our family home,
we had a family I'm on Glenwood and I was
born on Palmwood on the west Side. But nevertheless, we
know about the West Side, the Old west End, thank
God for that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Really the area of Bancroft in Upton. Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Oh wow wow. So you're a true Toledo native.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yes, born and born and raised here.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I was, I grew I was born here obviously, and
I went to uh Nathan Elementary and then on to.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Devloba's High School.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So yeah, I am a true uh Toledo product.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So when did you start getting the gross spurt?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Well, you know, I always.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Been kind of tall and skinny, uh even in grade school.
And I'm not that big really, to be honest with you.
You know, I'm I'm six four. I'm getting a little
older now. So I was a little bit disappointing when
I went to my doctor the other day and he said.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I was six three, you know, so starting to do
the shrinking product.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I guess I'm shrinking.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But yeah, I had a wonderful life and so I'm
just so really really pleased to be here to to share.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
A little bit.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
We'll share something about us, about us, about you that
we don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well there there there's a lot of different things. But
I think the one thing that I would like to
speak on is the fact that I'm an only child,
and most I would never guess.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Uh, most people wouldn't imagine that.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Uh, just just what my outgoing personality and uh, you
know how I carry myself and and and.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
You know with that comes or came a lot of challenges.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
You know, uh in regards to growing up and not
having any brothers and sisters. So if you got an
argument at some point or disagreement with somebody in your life,
no backup. I didn't have the brothers and sisters to turnity.
You know, I had to deal with it myself. So
I was quite fortunate. And thing I will say about
(06:02):
my parents, they taught me extremely well. And the one
thing that they did instill in me was you have
to work for everything you want in life. Nobody's going
to feel sorry for you, nobody's going to give you anything.
And the main thing, well to two other things, is
the fact that you have to believe in yourself. Okay
(06:25):
that that that that's one thing. And the other thing
that they really emphasized is that you know, everything is
kind of control by almighty gods.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
And so faith plays a part in your story.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Church Board church boy.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
From a very very young age, you know, I got
to ask what church I went to a Lutheran church.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I forget the name of it now.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
It was on Pinewood, right on the corner of Pinewood, Okay,
And it.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Was a Lutheran church you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yes, Yes, it's torn down now obviously, but that's the
church that I attend, and then various other churches throughout
my throughout my.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Life in high school at the vilbas High School. What
were some of the things that you remember most affectionately there?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Again, there's so many different things, but one of the
first things that really comes to my mind is the
fact that, yes, championships are great. We went to back
to back Shoe Bowls high school football championships. We had
a very competitive basketball team. But behind the scenes, again
(07:37):
when you mentioned the word team, that's about how you
treat each other.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And we were.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
One of the advantages that we had is that I
feel that.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
We were extremely mature.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
At de Ville was for our age, you know, and
we all respected each other, okay, we all courted each
other okay, and for the most part we hung out
with each other y you know. So it was a
really family type of togetherness, which I believe uh led
to a lot of successors at development. So it's just
(08:15):
the maturity leveled when I reflect back that as high
school students, uh, you know, we were really serious about
life in general and and really treating each other well.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You know, for instance, in the.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Locker room for us uh a, and the sports that
we competed in football and basketball, there was no laughing
and joking, right.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
We were focused. We were about the business.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yes, we were about to business. So there wasn't a
lot of tit tatt in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
You know. Everybody uh kind.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Of like in their own zone, you know what I mean,
uh a, and just ready to go so y. You know,
those are the type of things that that I think
with my experience of those things was a little bit
different than most people you know, had to understood.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So you played two sports.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yes, I was a two sport All American and basketball
football recruited by over one hundred d one colleges my
senior year age DeVos.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Now that a tension affect you being an only child
and all.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That, you know what, I think I dealt with it
extremely well because at that age, for some reason, I
thought that that was the norm to be recruited by
so many colleges, you know, of course, you know I was.
I was, you know, a decent athlet on a football
(09:45):
field and the basketball court. But I think, you know,
my young mind at the time didn't really realize the
magnitude of you know, all these college universe He's coming
after me, you know, for both football and basketball.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I'm pretty sure your parents were pretty proud.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
They were.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
They were, I mean, they were extremely proud, but again
it was kind of expected from my parents.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
For instance, when I was.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
In grade squad, I played for a football team called
the Avensdale Coats, right, and.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I was pretty good, I have to admit back.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
In the day, and the local media kind of nicknamed
me touched down Terry Okay, because it seemed like every
time I touched.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
The ball get attention.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yeah, I like broke away for a touchdown. So me,
my mom and dad would be sitting at the dinner table,
and they were always the type of parents that didn't
really let me know how proud they were of me.
So if I scored three touchdowns in one game, right,
they wouldn't kind of say, oh, you had a great
(10:58):
game today, you scored three toestdowns.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Take out the garbage.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Both my mom and dad would literally say Yeah, you
had a pretty good game, but and we know you
scored three to stuff, but what about this.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Don't you think you could have scored again on this?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You know, we were kind of expecting you not to
score three to sound, but you could add six. So
they were playing these for me reflecting bad they they were.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
That was they.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Were their way or their twols to keep me humble, okay,
and not let me get out of the box of
thinking that I'm this and everything.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
It sounds like, raise your expectations and beyond what it
is that you see eat that you can do, there's
always something more that you can accomplish. That's awesome. Sounds
like you had pretty good parents.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, they were.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
They they were beautiful man, absolutely, and and they always
taught me, son, you need to be your big, biggest
chella hmmm, she said your mom, They would say your
mom and dad was We're going to always support and
love you and whatever you choose to do in life,
but you first and foremost.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Need to be your biggest believe in yourself. Yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Your transition, well that was that was before high school
what you were just talking about then into high school
and from high school to collegiate with Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Was it, Yes, University of Tennessee and Knoxville.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So I was that transition.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Uh, that was that was very hectic, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Just reflecting by and I'm just amazed at the experiences
that I've been given. Like, for instance, for several months,
the house state had football coach back then, Uh what
he Hayes Coach Hayes and bo Sembleckler from the University
of Michigan was only at my house like every week
(13:03):
for a whole two months, but also my friend's house
who lived are door away from me. Okay, so we
lived at twenty twelve, mister Frowleigh Bell lived at twenty
oh eight, and we're both highly recruited by Bowl and
coaches from Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
So it was again at the time, so normal. Yeah,
I thought nothing of it, like you know, and I
have to admit.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
They're not going to everybody's house like house.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
But I have to admit, as I've gotten older, those
life experiences that I've been so blessed to have, they
are becoming more and more important to me, you know.
Or reflecting, I would sit down and be looking at
something on TV and I'll just say, wow, you know,
(13:57):
do you realize that, you know, the magnitude of your
experiences when you were when you were being recruited.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Makes you appreciate it? Yes, more so and and also
pro Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
To be honest with you, yeah, and also pro so.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
And then and then there wasn't only what he and
and and and ball. There were there was USC coaches.
I received a letter from, uh, the legendary John Wooton
back in the day from u c l A basketball
and Ralph read out from USC.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
It was just all those different schools. What made you
choose Tennessee?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Well, you know what, my mother had a lot to
do with that because she she she was raised by
her grandparents and Clarksville, Tennessee. Uh.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
She went to Clarksville High School.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I believe Clarksville just had one high school back in
the day. They probably got half several more now. But
she actually went to school with Wilma Rudolph the track start. Yeah,
and they played together on same basketball team back in
the day. And so when she started explaining to me
that the difference between the south, the South and the North,
(15:11):
she she had a lot of influence. So I'm ch
waste her to go to University of Tennessee just because
she was born and raised here. My mom didn't come
back to Toledo to be with her biological mother until
she was sixteen years of age, so that that's when
she transitioned back to Toledo. And you know, we used
(15:36):
to always laugh in joke. She is a proud, proud
Scott bulld All Greta.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
How does that work out? Mister didn't? That's funny. So
you went to Tennessee, you did all four.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Years, yes, all four years.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Absolutely wonderful, and then transitioned from there too.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Well.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I got drafted and in the National Basketball Association for
the Kansas City Kings, and I played a low wall
for them, and then, unfortunate at the time, due to
political reasons, I got released from the team.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
And then you went international.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Uh No, I actually came back here and worked a
little while.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So some good friends of mine, Mike Carter, their journeyman,
mister Mike Counnor and Robert Bean.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Uh they got me.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
An excellent job at for me to nuclear site, oh wow,
up in Newport, Michigan and check this out as a
quality control inspector.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So I knew nothing about nothing, right.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You were the Homer Simpson, and I think.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I think even back then, and I'm talking of the eighties, eighties, right,
forty two dollars hour? Wow, forty two dollars, And I
was I was a little jealous of Mike and Robert
Bean because they had been journeymen for I don't know,
twenty five years at the time, and they were earning
like maybe one hundred and sixty dollars hour. So I
(17:09):
was like, well, why is it that I'm earning forty
two dollars hour and you guys are earning like one
sixty bus It was a great experience. And again, you know,
I think, well, I know for a fact that I
was I was offered that job just because of my background,
just because of the fact that.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
They knew me.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
They knew I went to the University of Tennessee, they
knew I was a great athlete, and you know, that
kind of got me in the door because I knew
nothing about quality control inspection.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Well, thank god, we all survived that experience. So you
did that for how long? And then went to international basketball?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yes, So how that happened was I was there for
about six months, really sullenly in here, you know, I
didn't really like to travel from Toledo to Newport every
every day or every morning, but it was strange.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I got a call from a guy called mister Craig Lynx.
He was a start high.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
School I mean he was a superstar in high school.
I mean basketball, very very good. In fact, he he
was a start high school lead and scorer for many
years before mister Anthony Henderson Junior broke his record recently.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
And he just called me out of the bing full and said, hey,
this is Craig Linz. I was like, Craig, how you doing, man?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Man?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You know, he said, I'm I've been a player of
coach now over in England for six years and I
see that that you may be available. I would like
for you to come over here and play with me. Uh,
not for me, but with me, because Craig at the
time was still playing, but he was a coach as well,
(18:58):
so he was he was a player coach, and we
had negotiations. And it's funny, you know sometimes how naive
Americans are, especially.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Have you ever been overseas, especially in the eighties.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
So one of the questions that I asked him was,
so England, is that where their their main transportation is
horse and buggy. And the answer was his his ass,
It was, let me think about it, if I actually
(19:35):
want to bring you over there, He's like, no, mister Gray, no,
we have cars over here, you know type of things.
So yeah, it was. It was so funny. So, yeah,
that was my first experience of going to Manchester, England.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
So we had to still be relatively in pretty good
shape if you'll did six months there at the nuclear.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Oh I was in great shape. Yeah I was. So
you could still play oh yeah, oh yeah I was
because of what at the time.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
My mental thoughts were, you have to stay in safe
because the NBA team is gonna call you. Yeah, okay,
eventually they're gonna call you, and you need to be ready.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Yeah you know. So I had that kind of mentality
at the time. That's good. Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
So your experience in England, I guess this is almost
like another book. How was that? That had to be
one heck of a transition. You've never been abroad before.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
It was absolutely tough. I mean it really was.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
It really was, and you know, a lot of times,
even to the present day, people think that the USA
and England is very much the same based on us
speaking the same language. But other than that, it's a
whole different way, a whole different universe. And you know,
(21:04):
fortunately for me, I've been always kind of mentally tough,
uh and determined, and you know, when I got there,
it was tough. You know, the people are different, the
food's different. They drive on the other side of the road,
the steering wheel is on the other side of the car, right,
and so this is hilarious. My first year there. Obviously,
(21:28):
part of the contract was they would supply me would
a little get around car, nothing, nothing, you know, fancy,
but unfortunately I wrecked like four carsh my.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Goodness, no more cars for you.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So eventually before the season was over. That is exactly
what was related to me, Crosby.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
We cannot give you a nothing car type of thing.
But yeah, it was different.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
It was tough, and you know, I mentioned, well, I
have a chap on my international experience and my buck
and you know, I just put it out there. You know,
if you're thinking about going abroad to play, then more
so than the physical aspect of being good enough, it's
more so the mental thing.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
The mental tough because you needed that.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Focus that you were talking about back in high school
and from home h to actually get along there.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I'm sure, yes I did. I did, you know.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
And I always base my entire life around the things
that I was I was taught as a child, because
it's carried me so far in my life.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Really, I got to ask you, your mom wants you
to go?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yeah, she was.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
She was ready for me to go because I was
getting on her nerves, she was, you know, And and
being home in Toledo, you know, it's you know, it's
not always good, you know, you know what I mean,
just just because of the certain things that that are
happening in oighborhoods.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And our community and blend in you kind of have
to devalue yourself sometimes at least mentally, you don't necessarily
have to do that, but when you have that type
of attention, I could see where that could be an
issue or concern. So all that led back to you
getting involved in the community here. How did you get
from all of that right back to Toledo.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Well, that's again let me mention this again.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
As an only child, I was over in Great Bretain
with my family because I have a beautiful son and
daughter over there that are very very successful. Leondale Crosby
is my son. I think he's thirty three now, and
Ebone Marie Crosby, she's twenty four.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
So I was in a twenty two.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Year marriage, well relationship, we weren't married, and we had
two kids together. So I came over here, and I'm
twenty twelve, just to check on my mom because my
friends were calling me, Santi, you gotta come home, man,
(24:09):
I know you got family there. Your mother's not doing well.
She's really sick. And bear in mind I'm the only child. Yeah, okay,
so we had I made the family decision to come
over to check on her. I was here for two
weeks on a visit, and I came because I wanted
to see, you know, how sick she was. And during
(24:34):
that span of two weeks, I realized that, yes, she
was very sick. So I went back to Great Britain
and we set around the dinner table and I was like, look,
I gotta go back and take care of my mom.
You know, after twenty two years of you know, family
life with my beautiful family in Great Britain, and so.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Your wife's from there, yes for you spread the mother Okay, yeah,
she's ready she's busy.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
And so they were kind enough and thoughtful enough to say, Okay,
you know, you got it. You have to do what
you have to do. So you know, one mind, I
always here, uh, checking on my mom. I flew back
to Great Britain, and then like two months later after that.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
I came back to it to look after her.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Well that's a heck of a sacrifice. But it's mom,
and you only get one.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
You only get one.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Well, and I will say, in all honesty, and you
know this is sincere for my heart if I had
to make that same decision again. I mean, it was
a tough decision. Yeah, I mean what father wants to
leave their kids, you know, or or their partner, you
know what I mean. But that's my mama. Yeah, so
(25:50):
that's the And with me being the only child too,
it's not like I could turn to brothers and sisters
to take up the slack or whatever.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
So she has yep. Well, and we were very close.
We were extremely close. So when did your mom pass?
Twenty twelve?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
November November seventeen, twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Well, and you've been here ever since.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Been here ever since, and I haven't. And I'm a
little disappointed about this. I haven't been back to Great
Break since twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Oh my goodness, but my children have been over here.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
No good, good good good good good.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
So I'm saying, and no, it wasn't. It was last summer.
I believe. I have three children. Okay, I have an
older daughter that lives in Columbus. We had a great time.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
All three of my kids was here, was here with
their father and grandkids.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, I have grandkids. I have five grandkids and four
great grands What.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
That's awesome. That's awesome. So the legacy will continue.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
That's one of our catchphrases. That's an amazing story. So
all that led to you getting back involved here in
the community and sharing your stories and speaking to young
adult groups and such. How do you think your life?
Everything that we've covered today, and I'm sure there's plenty
(27:14):
other things that we haven't talked about, maybe some stuff
that we can't talk about it, how did that lead
you into mentorship with young men here in Toledo?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
You know what, that is something that has been instilled
in me for a very, very long time.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
That is something I thoroughly enjoy. When I was at
the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I used to come home during the summer as my
freshmen and sophomore years and do Terry Crosby basketball clinics
over at Nathan Lle Elementary.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Awesome and how that worked out at the time.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
The young ones would come in in the morning for
a couple hours and every day Monday to Friday. We
were off at the weekends, and then when they got finished,
we broke off for lunch for about hour, and then
the adults will coming, you know, the older guys, and
then we were all play from like one to three.
So that's you know, speaking to young people, trying to
(28:12):
encourage young people, trying to inspire not just young people,
but any and everybody that I encounter.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
You know, because I have adults that call me right
now and.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Just want to talk, you know what I mean, because
they know the goodness in my heart and they know
that I'm going to further encourage them to believe in
themselves and whatever whatever endeavors that they're you know, trying
to seek or follow.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
So that is kind of always been instilled in me.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
My father was a great community leader, leon Dale Crosby.
He worked as a super He was a superintendent at
unic as it was a still factory back in the day.
And so a lot of thinking about others before you
think about self comes from both my parents.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Okay, so I was.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
The only child growing up in the West Side. Both
my parents had very good jobs back at this time.
In fact, we were the only We were the I believe,
the second African American family that was able to move
in that neighborhood back in nineteen sixty four. So the
(29:28):
Crossby household as was kind of always the flop house,
you know, because both my parents had very good jobs,
and they were very kind and forthcoming in regards to
helping other people.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
So, you know, all of my friends would just.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Come over to my house and she would feed whole
neighborhoods well, you know, big pots of great home cooked
food on the stove, you know. And I have a
funny joke to tell. One time we were all together
over my mom's and we were eating really good food,
and I think she, I think at the time she
(30:07):
was she fried some chicken, We had grains, we had
macaroni cheese, we had candy, yams, cornbread, homemade corn bread,
you know, everything that kills you, you know, Yeah, and
and and one of my friends he had, like I
don't know, it was like six kids in this family,
(30:29):
and he was so excited.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
He absolutely piled his plate up.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
He had like four pieces of chicken on his plate,
like the vegetables were like spelling off the side of
his plate. And to show you how classy my mom was,
she was like, son, you you don't need to put
all that on your plate at once. Don't you see
all that food up there, there's plenty for everybody. Put
(30:56):
some back and and then eat what you have, and
then you can come back six times if you won't,
because you know, so, it's just those little intrinsic things
that I was called at a very young age, and
obviously my mom and dad shared those with our community.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Awesome, awesome, awesome. So the question of the day, as
we're wrapping this up, when you reflect on your career
and your life, what do you hope your legacy will
be and how would you want to be remembered, both
in Toledo and beyond.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
You know, I have a little statement, and I just
want people to remember me as an inspirational person, a motivator,
one who cared for others before himself. Yes, and that
he gave back much more than he ever received.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Awesome, awesome, awesome, great answer.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
Answer.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
We're so thankful to have you here. It's been a
pleasant living legacy. I'm we'll have to get an autograph
on some of the pictures we produced today, but we
are we're thankful to have you here to share your story.
The book title. We can't leave here without talking about
the book title. What is the title of your book?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Okay, let me go here. We got one, two, three?
Do you have the balls? Question mark?
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Bye, mister Terry Crosby. That's an awesome name. I think
you might sell a million just on that alone.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Well, certainly people were picking up and oh yeah, I'm
thinking you gotta have a good picture. Oh yeah, I've
got forty six pictures throughout it. So if you ever
think about writing a book, then I know what you're
getting yourself into.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
You can probably write a book on writing a book.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
It's and it takes a lot. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I think there's two words that I like to share
with three people when producing and writing a book with
the help of a publisher.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
That those two words are joy and pain. That's what
it is. That's what this experience is giving me.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Well, we look forward to sharing that as well. It
might have to have you back on just to talk
about your book once you get it.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
I would love that. Man.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
I love you guys here at wgt Man, It's like, yeah,
well we love you too.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
I would like to come back.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
And we're so thankful to have you here on the
Voices of Legacy here on w gt E the Voices
around Us initiative. Thank you for listening to the Voices
of Legacy today, each and every one of you. We
appreciate you following us on wgt E dot org ford
slash Legacy and listening to these interviews. And we're so
thankful again for our guest today, mister Terry Crosby, a
(33:45):
Toledo legend that I think he has a little bit
of legacy yet for us as we look forward. Thank
you for listening to the Voices of Legacy. This is
(34:06):
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 of legacy,
(34:27):
where you're writing your own legacy every day that you live,
have a blessing.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
WGT voices around US.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
WGT is 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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