- For the actor, see Terry Crews.
| “ | I'm Terry Jeffords, and when I put my mind to something, I do it. | ” |
―Terry Jeffords in "The Oolong Slayer" | ||
Captain Terrence “Terry” Vincent Jeffords (portrayed by Terry Crews) is a main character in all eight seasons of the show. He starts off the series at the rank of Sergeant, supervising the detective squad, and gets promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in season six. In the series finale, he becomes Captain of the 99th Precinct. He is a former linebacker (and looks like it) with a heart of gold and is a self-declared family man. He is devoted to his wife, Sharon, and his three girls, twins Cagney and Lacey, who were born a year before the start of the series, and Ava, who is born in the season three episode Ava. At the beginning of the series he struggles going back into the field as he can’t imagine not seeing his girls grow up. Eventually, he overcomes this fear and uses those emotions to protect his loved ones. Terry considers himself a “proud mama hen” to the detective squad, keeping them in line, helping out on cases, and caring for them when they are sick or injured. Though he can be tough and skeptical of the precinct shenanigans, he knows how to have fun and relax, and allows himself to indulge in life's little pleasures, like yogurt.
Biography
Terry had a rough childhood. He was overweight, was bullied, and had a cruel father who died in 1988. He had a joy in his early life, though: the books of D.C. Parlov. He viewed police officers as superheroes, which is why he joined the force, and was saved from bullies by one.
At some unknown time he married Sharon and a year before the start of the show, she gave birth to twin girls, Cagney and Lacey. He has a third daughter, Ava who was born on Thanksgiving 2015 after Sharon goes into labor at the 99th Precinct.
He played linebacker at Syracuse.[1]
Terry spent a year abroad in Tokyo in his junior year at college, where he briefly dated Chiaki, who broke his heart.
He doesn't get along very well with his brother-in-law Zeke, due to how badly Zeke treats him. The only time Zeke showed respect for Terry was out of sympathy when Zeke thought Holt was abusing his authority.
He had an addiction to food which got real bad, to the point where he broke a restaurant window because they were closed at 6:00. He got over it by re-booting his system (sticking his head in ice water) every time he felt for a food craving.
During his time as a field officer, his infamous nickname was "The Ebony Falcon".
In 1995, he made Detective and started his first day at the 65th Precinct.[2] There, he was mocked after he exclaimed that a cat was an accomplice to a burglary, and was helping a seemingly paralyzed man. Twenty-years later, Terry and Jake re-open the case and figure out that he had been faking his paralysis and really was the burglar.
Before joining the 99th Precinct, he worked at the 18th precinct with Captain Holt. At the time he was fat and gained the nickname "Terry Titties" due to his large 'titties'.
Physical Appearance
Terry is a bald 6'3" man, weighing a "tight" 240 pounds, something he's very defensive about due to his insecurities relating to his weight. He is very muscular, even working out his ear muscles, and is known to bounce his pecks. He's been proven to be able to do 10,000 pushups with ease, fall asleep while doing pull-ups, and can lift Jake up without any effort, stating that it is like he is "holding a couple grapes". Charles describes him as looking like 8 circles with suspenders.
During Chocolate Milk, Terry wants to have a vasectomy however he is prevented from doing so by his massive stature; the doctor didn't have enough anesthesia for a man of his size.
He is usually seen in a button-down shirt (often striped), a complementary patterned tie, and suspenders.
Running Gags
Read full article on Terry Loves Yogurt
Several episodes contain a running gag involving Terry Jeffords' love for yogurt.
Read full article on Terry talking about himself in third person Terry often uses third person to describe his emotions.
In the earlier parts of the show, Terry repeatedly brought up his past obesity. This stopped in the later seasons, however, as it could've been seen as offensive.
Personality
Terry is caring, protective over the squad, and hardworking. He has a habit of referring to himself in the third person. When he had twin daughters, he freaked out and ended up afraid of getting himself hurt, but soon enough he showed himself to be a tough, heroic, fearsome man who would do anything to protect his squad. He fearlessly charged against an armed criminal to save Captain Holt's life, twice, and when Jake, Charles, and Gina were trapped in a store with terrorists breaking in, Terry defied orders in order to prevent them from being endangered - he openly defied Detective Pembroke to prevent him from endangering his friends. Holt sees potential in Terry to be a captain, and recognises him as a great leader and a compassionate person.
Terry is a good cop and a serious person, but he is also extremely smooth and everyone in his precinct really likes him - he is almost as much of a father figure to some detectives as Holt is. Terry often jumps at the chance to console or to otherwise help a detective in a personal situation, even if he doesn't understand such situations from personal experiences: he consoled Rosa after the departure of Adrian Pimento, and drank with Jake when he realized that them solving the unsolvable case was all about him getting over Amy. [3][4] He shows amazing amounts of tolerance with his fellow detectives: he can speak on reasonable terms with an enraged Rosa, a despondent Charles, and having to contend repeatedly with the incompetent Hitchcock and Scully.
Terry is capable of a ferocious temper, almost as ferocious as Rosa's (which is really saying something). He reacts furiously when Jake tries to exclude him from his first case back in the field, when the Vulture disregards the lives of his colleagues during a hostage situation, and when he is perceived as fat by some people. He is capable of incredible feats of strength when riled, such as ripping a thick book in half with both hands, slamming a door so hard that he accidentally breaks the windows and entire interior of Holt's office, causing structural damage to the point where you couldn't lean on the door frame, shutting a window gently and obliterating it entirely and even lifting the back end of a car off the ground with both hands for an extended amount of time. It is also stated that Terry loves love.
Terry was the precinct's champion marksman.
Quotes
- Jeffords: Terry loves yogurt!
- Jeffords: Holt was right. I've been so worried about my own kids I forgot about my stupid grown-up kids.
- Peralta: That's insulting.[5]
- Jeffords: I need to eat 10,000 calories a day to maintain muscle mass![6]
- Boyle: I need someone following a line-up. Will you be scary Terry?
- Jeffords: Aw, I love being scary Terry. He says what regular Terry's thinking.
- Jeffords: Sir, there's been a jailbreak and the Mafia's at it again.
- Jeffords: Terry's shoulders weren't built for tight spaces. It's Bonk City in here![7]
Awards and Decoration
American Flag Breast Bar
May be worn by any NYPD Police Officer.
Commendation—Integrity Breast Bar
Commendation—Integrity is awarded for Grave personal danger in the performance of duty, OR A highly creditable, unusual police accomplishment.
Unit Citation Breast Bar
It is awarded to a specific unit or precinct for outstanding accomplishments.
World Trade Center Breast Bar
Once only reserved to be worn by any NYPD Police Officer who was in active service during, or worked details related to the follow up on, the September 11 attacks, it has been updated to allow any NYPD Police Officer, at their discretion, to wear the bar in honor and remembrance.
Trivia
- Terry is left-handed.
- Terry used to be overweight.
- Terry played football for Syracuse as a linebacker.
- His favorite yogurt flavor was mango. It has since been discontinued.
- His once-a-week treat is full fat Greek yogurt with a touch of honey.[8]
- Terry loves love, foreign films, kreplach, walls, lavender, Frasier, suspenders, sports bloopers, and maintaining a professional work environment.[9]
- Terry hates tests.[10]
- Terry is known to be an excellent illustrator and painter.
- Terry has written multiple formats of work though he doesn't have serious aspirations of becoming a professional writer.
- He wrote a picture book for his children
- He's written Madam Secretary fanfiction (the show leaves Terry wanting more)
- He wrote a fantasy novel that was approved by his favorite writer (Return To Skyfire)
- He likes foreign films, such as "Breathless" which he considers to be Francois Truffaut's film since he is the writer. He gets in a debate with a man at Captain Holt's party who believes it to be Jean-Luc Godard's film.
- Terry is a huge fan of the "Skyfire Cycle" franchise by DC Parlov.[11] Discovering Parlov is a womanizing jerk has not lessened his love for the books.[12]
- Terry had a flat-top hair style in the 90s.
- Terry named his right breast "Eugene".
- Terry watches a lot of Grey's Anatomy, a medical drama TV show by ABC.
- His morning alarm is a recording of his own voice repeating, "Terry loves waking up."
- He lived in Tokyo for a while in his youth. During that time, his heart was broken by a girl he loved, who only wanted a fling. Also in Tokyo, he did a modelling job.
- According to Boyle, Terry's grandmother fell ill and died during the events of Safe House.
- Terry became addicted to cocoa nibs after Boyle gave them to him.
- He ordered a sex and romance book when he was having problems with Sharon that he continuously tried to claim belonged to Scully.[13][14]
Gallery
References
fr:Terry Jeffords