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Chicago Bears: 30 greatest players in franchise history

By Conor Dorney

Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Charles Tillman, Chicago Bears
(Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images) /

2003-14. Charles Tillman. 15. player. 57. . CB

Turnovers are the name of the game in the NFL and for that reason, the franchise’s co-all time interceptions leader, cornerback Charles Tillman, makes our list at No. 15.

Tillman was one of two players selected in the middle rounds of the Bears’ 2003 NFL Draft (the other being linebacker Lance Briggs) to become a key member of the club’s defense for years to come. The two first-rounders in that same draft however? Well, uh, let’s just skip ahead on that one.

It didn’t take long for Tillman to make his presence felt in the Bears’ secondary, totaling four interceptions, 76 tackles and 12 pass defenses in his rookie season.

As good as Tillman was at snatching footballs out of the air, he had an incredible penchant for knocking them out of the hands of opposing ball carriers. In fact, his 44 forced fumbles are among the highest total in the history of the league, including a whopping 10 during his First-Team All-Pro season in 2012.

While Tillman never racked up some of the accolades that his peers did, he was still one of the most consistent defensive players in all of football. One only has to look to the massive contracts being handed out to defensive backs in today’s NFL to see how much the league values forcing turnovers on the back half of a defense.

Criminally underrated, Tillman certainly established himself as one of the best players, both on and off the field, in team history.

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