Sergeant Terry Jeffords of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a multi-faceted and complex man. Or has he might put it, Terry has layers. He’s a warrior and a poet (even if his novel writing skills aren’t very good), and he looks after the Nine-Nine as if they were his own family. He is the strongest individual in the precinct, but is also the most in touch with his emotions. An advocate for his fellow detectives and officers, there is nothing that can stop Terry when he puts his mind to it.
Given Terry’s love for his officers and his tendency to simply state how he feels, there have been many memorable quotes from him over the years. Here are the 10 best Terry quotes, straight from the Ebony Falcon himself!
10. I Was Born Ready…
I was born ready. And then I was not ready for a while. Now I’m back to being born ready.
Prior to the show, Terry has a brush with death that scares him off from going back into the field. Not wanting to leave his children fatherless, he is terrified of getting shot and killed. In an attempt to get him back in the field, Jake pushes him to become “The Ebony Falcon” again, only to immediately worry for Terry’s safety. Terry quickly shows himself and the rest of the precinct that he is more than ready to go back into the field.
9. Tiny Terry’s Hobbit Hole
Fine, we’ll go to my house. Or as Zeke calls it, Tiny Terry’s Hobbit Hole.
There is only one person that consistently and routinely gets under Terry’s skin; his brother-in-law Zeke. Standing significantly taller than Terry, he views Terry as weak and a bad family man. Given that he’s family, Terry cannot go off on him for these insults, and is forced to take them in stride. While this annoys Terry greatly, over time he manages to show Zeke what a capable and determined detective, husband, and father he is. While he may be “Tiny Terry” to Zeke, the rest of the Nine-Nine knows the truth about their favorite Sergeant.
8. …When I Put My Mind To Something, I Do It
I’m Terry Jeffords, and when I put my mind to something, I do it. My resting heart rate is six. Six!
Terry is obsessed with his physical fitness, having gone through a fairly significant “fat phase” prior to the show. It’s a testament to Terry’s drive and commitment to his ideals that he becomes the paragon of fitness that he is today.
When Terry gains over a hundred pounds from snacking on Boyle’s cocoa nibs, he manages to lose the weight in less than a week. Impossible? Not for Terry Jeffords it isn’t.
7. She Must Be Bad
A white woman in prison, in Texas? [scoffs] She must be bad.
A huge proponent for social justice, Terry is quick to point out subtle (and not so subtle) racial injustice. When he finds out that a potential informant named Maura Figgis is held in maximum security at a prison in Texas, he’s quick to point out the underlying irony of the situation. Whether it’s situations like this or getting racially profiled by a cop, Terry is not shy about speaking his mind.
6. I Can Be Very Persuasive
I’ll get your perp to talk. I can be very persuasive. I just negotiated my baby girls down from a pony to a hamster.
If Terry has one weakness, it’s his twin children Cagney and Lacey. Anything that might endanger his girls sends him into a panic, and anything they may want is quick to be delivered to them. Whether it’s an impossible-to-build castle or sweets, Terry’s soft spot for his children is both humorous and endearing.
5. You Almost Killed Me!
What the hell, Boyle! You almost killed me! I’m not going out in a stew-making accident! Terry’s gonna die saving the President, or Terry’s never gonna die!
Terry has a set way he likes doing things. This includes everything from how he vacations to even how he dies. Terry is a man of principles and a man of action; the idea of dying to something as mundane as Charle’s cooking infuriates the Sergeant. While he’s come a long way from not wanting to be in the field at all, he still wants to set death on his terms.
4. Can We Please Eat?
Okay. Excuse me. Can we please eat? My body is starting to digest itself. Terry needs nutrients!
While it’s common knowledge that Terry loves yogurt, part of that love comes from his hunger cravings. As a nervous and habitual eater, Terry consumes calories like they’re the criminals he’s locking up.
Healthy alternatives like yogurt offer him a chance to snack while also keeping the weight off. Still, that doesn’t stop him from almost devouring an entire Thanksgiving meal single-handedly after a day of fasting and working out at the gym.
3. Want Me To Crush…
You need to destroy that stuff. You want me to crush that big box into a little ball with my bare hands?
There’s no denying that Terry is clearly the strongest member of the Nine-Nine. Both significantly taller and stronger than the other detectives or Captain Holt, Terry’s strength is used to the others advantage constantly. While there are times his strength becomes a form of objectification (particularly with Gina), it also helps keeps everyone in check when reminded that Terry could take on any one of them without hesitation.
2. Terry Teared Up
Terry teared up. I love when calamity brings people together.
While a somewhat macabre statement, it highlights a simple fact; Terry is an emotional man. He does not keep things bottled up like Jake, Rosa, or Holt. He’s also more in tune with his emotions than Amy and Boyle, knowing how to process and move on with his feelings. As a father, he teaches his children it’s ok to cry. And as a Sergeant, he teaches the detectives how to understand what they’re feeling and how to deal with it appropriately.
1. Terry Loves…
Damn, Jake. You know that Terry loves love!
There’s a lot of things that Terry loves. Yogurt, lavender, foreign films, and responsible agricultural practices are ranked highly on that list. But the one thing that the Nine-Nine’s resident softy loves most of all is love. He loves his family and children more than anything, and is a pillar of support for everyone in the precinct. While he may have odd and extreme ways of showing his love, there is no denying that Terry cares about everyone.
