The NFL star to broadcast analyst pipeline is a well-established one. Tom Brady inked a blockbuster $375million, 10-year deal as a commentator.
There’s rarely an ESPN football show Jason Kelce isn’t starring on. And even Rob Gronkowski appears as an analyst on Fox’s NFL programming.
But not for Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman.
After 13 seasons in the NFL, taking hit after brutal hit, the Chicago Bears legend would’ve been forgiven for wanting a quiet life. But he had other plans.
The cornerback, now 44, who earned adoration in Chicago for chasing down NFL players, is now chasing down criminals.
After cementing himself as a legend in the Windy City, the All-Pro hung up his cleats in 2016. Two years later, he picked up his badge – his FBI badge.
‘I just wanted to do my part and give back,’ Tillman tells the Daily Mail. ‘My dad’s my hero, and I just wanted to get back and get into public service.’
Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman played 13 seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Chicago Bears
After hanging up his cleats in 2016, Tillman went on to become an agent with the FBI
Tillman enrolled in the FBI Training Academy’s 20-week training program in Quantico, Virginia in 2018 to pursue a full-time career in the Bureau. It was an easy decision. One that had long been in the back of his mind before he even stepped off the football field for good, he admits.
Retiring in 2016, having amassed a $51million fortune from his career in the league, Tillman did try his hand at broadcasting, spending his first year out of football working as an NFL analyst for Fox Sports.
But his sense of civic duty ultimately won out and he enlisted in FBI training – a decision his former teammates were supportive of.
‘I work with a lot of good people who do some pretty amazing things,’ he says of the job, while speaking to the Daily Mail from the Mini Monsters Clinic in Manchester, England – a youth-focused American football initiative organised by the Bears.
‘It’s a thankless job. You don’t get credit for it. You do your job. You’re not in the paper. You do the job because you don’t want to be in the paper. You do it because you’re protecting people.’
The exact role Tillman carries out to protect his fellow citizens? Well, that remains a mystery.
Naturally, given the secretive nature of the Bureau, Tillman remains tight-lipped on the details of his job, shutting down the question with a knowing smile when asked about his work out in the field rather than on it.
The most he’s willing – or able – to disclose is the sense of fulfilment he feels following a day on the job.
The cornerback, now 44, who earned adoration in Chicago for chasing down NFL players
He had earned his degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
‘I’ve had it come up a couple of times where you do something pretty cool,’ he admits. ‘You’re just like, ‘Man, that was we did a really good thing today.’ Nobody will really know about it, and I’m okay with that. I’m okay with my name not being in the paper and I’m okay with people not knowing. But, I did something pretty fulfilling, and I’m happy to say I helped somebody.’
While Tillman has no intention of making front-page news with his heroism, Lil Reese had no issue unmasking the agent. The Chicago-based rapper previously unmasked Tillman as an agent involved in a raid on his house back in 2018.
‘I was tapping my homie, ‘Ain’t this the football player?’ Lil Reese previously told VladTV. ‘And then I said, ‘What’s up, aren’t you Charles Tillman?’
Tillman’s personal history is rooted in service. His father, Donald, was a sergeant in the United States Army who served for 20 years. As a result, Tillman attended 11 schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.
He even appeared poised to follow in his father’s footsteps earlier in life, earning his degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette – where his signature ‘Peanut Punch’ was born.
But Tillman, nicknamed ‘Peanut’ by his Aunt Renee for the way he looked as a baby, postponed his career in the field for one on it.
Tillman was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft going on to establish himself as one of the greatest defensive backs in the team’s history, holding the franchise records for interceptions by a cornerback, interception-return touchdowns, and defensive touchdowns.
It’s easy to imagine the hulking 6-foot-2 former NFL star easily assimilating to the physical challenges of the FBI. But Tillman admits the transition isn’t as simple as that.
Tillman, pictured with his wife Jackie, tried his hand at broadcasting for a year after retiring
The cornerback was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft
‘You could be a professional football player, you could be a teacher. Football doesn’t have anything to do with doing that line of work,’ he insists. ‘I’ve seen people who are journalists and whatnot, and they’re able to do the job just as good as me, if not better.
‘So, me being an athlete didn’t have anything to do with joining that organization. I found an organization that I was passionate about joining and really doing some good work with.’
Yet, his role with the FBI isn’t his first act of service to the community.
In 2008, Tillman’s world was turned upside down. He and his wife, Jackie, were left helpless when his baby girl Tiana was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness at just three months old.
Tiana, one of Tillman’s four children, was life-flighted to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago where she was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy – or enlarged heart – with the organ unable to pump enough blood through her tiny body.
The family were left facing a miracle – one that ultimately came from the selfless sacrifice of another mother, who donated her deceased baby boy’s heart.
Tillman had already established the Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation three years prior, helping to impact the lives of thousands of critically and chronically ill children and their families but after having his own prayers answered, the footballer’s cause received a new lease of life.
‘When my daughter got sick in 2008 and received a heart transplant, I wanted to do more in the community,’ he explains. ‘It really lit a fire underneath me to be better about giving. I was blessed. She was blessed. We were blessed. We’re still blessed. How can I bless other people?’
In 2008, he and his wife, Jackie, were left helpless when his baby girl Tiana was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness
Tillman is pictured with his eldest daughter Tayla in 2016
Tillman and his work were honored by the NFL in 2013 when he was awarded the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award – the only achievement in the league that recognizes excellence both on and off the field.
He beat out 31 other players from the league’s remaining franchise, and to him, that meant more than reaching not one, but two Super Bowls.
‘It’s my greatest NFL accomplishment,’ he admits. ‘And it was something that I did without actually trying to do. I didn’t wake up one day and think, ‘You know what? I think I’m going to try to win the Walter Payton Award this year.’ I’m not motivated by that. So it meant more that I got recognised just for being me.
‘They can only just pick one. I don’t think my charity is better than anyone else’s. I just got picked that year.’
Tillman not only supports children’s charities through his Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation, he also has long been active in military endeavors. In 2010, he spent eight days on a USO tour visit with troops in Iraq and Kuwait and he was selected as the winner of the NFL’s Salute to Service award in 2012.
And while his work in the service may be top secret, his other endeavors are not. Tillman is continuing to give back to the community and the team, helping to run the Bears’ clinics, which are designed to provide children aged 7-12 with their first experience of American football, in the UK in partnership with the Manchester United Foundation.
However, his cover is secure in Manchester, as he jokingly admits the kids seemingly have no clue who he is, which is laughable considering his illustrious career.
While Tillman perfected his ‘Peanut Punch’ during college, it was during his career in the NFL that it became infamous.
His charitable endeavors were awarded with the Walter Payton Award of the Year
The move – a fumble-forcing maneuver achieved by punching the ball out of a ball carrier’s hands – earned such a reputation for its success that in 2022, the NFL sent a league-wide memo announcing that its officiating body had made it an official in-game technique.
Tillman jokes he should get the memo framed and hang it on the wall opposite his front door.
Tillman earned icon status during his 12 years with the Bears, helping the franchise reach Super Bowl XLI. He spent his final year with the Carolina Panthers in the 2015 season when the team reached Super Bowl 50.
He admits only winning one of those Super Bowls would have been able to top his Walter Payton Award as his greatest NFL achievement.
