John Amos – NCAA Football
Before becoming an actor, John Amos made an attempt to break into the NFL multiple times. After a strained hamstring led to his release from the Denver Broncos in 1964, he bounced around the CFL for a couple of years. After being told that he was “not a football player” by the Kansas City Chiefs, he made his way to acting.
In jail?
Nope, his victim was white
I actually met him at a diner in my home town