Chicago Bears Countdown to Kickoff: 33 Days with Charles Tillman

33 days remain until the first Sunday of the NFL season, and to celebrate football's impending arrival, we continue Chicago Bears Countdown to Kickoff by looking at the life and career of the best player in franchise history to don the number 33, cornerback Charles Tillman.

Chicago Bears Select Charles Tillman in Second Round of 2003 NFL Draft

Charles Tillman was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he immediately gained the nickname "Peanut" from his aunt, who noted that as a baby, he was as small as the legume. However, Tillman did not grow up in Chicago, rather his family moved around the country numerous times due to his father's service as a U.S. Army sergeant. Eventually, Tillman found his way to Copperas Cove High School in central Texas, the final of eleven schools that he attended before college. At his final stop, Tillman became a dominant defensive back, playing at 6'2" and nearly 200 lbs.

Despite the freaking length and athleticism for a high school defensive back prospect, Tillman had not garnered a lot of collegiate attention by the end of his high school career. Tillman found his eventual college team just across the Texas-Louisiana border at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he continued to develop on and off the field.

Tillman had always had a great academic interest, which he attributes to engaging teachers throughout his schooling, and pursued a degree in criminal justice while playing college football. Tillman finished his degree in 3.5 years while simultaneously earning four consecutive letters and starting three seasons in the team's defensive backfield.

From his sophomore through senior season, Tillman was a constant at the cornerback position and started in 34 regular season games throughout his career. His first season playing was perhaps his best, and he ended the year with six interceptions and an All-Independent selection. He also earned two All-Sun Belt nods in each of his final two years. He finished his collegiate career with 284 total tackles, 12 interceptions, and seven fumble recoveries.

Following his graduation and the completion of his collegiate career, Tillman entered the 2003 NFL Draft. He was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 35th overall pick, making him the third selection made by the team (linebacker Lance Briggs was the fourth, selected with the 68th overall pick).

Charles Tillman Quickly Becomes Super Star Corner Back with Chicago Bears

It was easy to see as early as his first season that the Chicago Bears found a steal in Charles Tillman. As a rookie, number 33 started 13 games in the secondary and logged four picks, 12 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and 86 total tackles. He finished fifth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting but with new head coach Lovie Smith joining the team ahead of the 2004 season, Tillman's starting job was not necessarily a guarantee.

Tillman impressed the new regime in camp, and his unique combination of size and speed ended up serving perfectly in Smith's Tampa-2 defense. Unfortunately, a mid-season injury forced Tillman to miss the final eight games of the season. He finished the year with five pass deflections and 45 total tackles.

Returning from injury in 2005, Tillman had a dominant season as a boundary cornerback. In 15 games, Tillman recorded five interceptions, one of which was returned for a 95-yard touchdown. He also had 16 pass deflections and four forced fumbles, the latter of which was due to the famous "Peanut Punch", a method that Tillman had adopted to get the ball loose. Tillman would go on to force an inordinate number of fumbles throughout his career thanks to this technique.

With Tillman on the roster, the Chicago Bears as a unit, especially on defense, had perhaps their best season in 2006. After posting a 13-3 regular season record, the team made it to the Super Bowl, where they eventually lost to the Peyton Manning-led Colts. Despite troubles and inconsistency on offense throughout the year, Tillman and teammates Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, Adewale Ogunleye, Tommie Harris, Alex Brown, and Danieal Manning helped form a dominant defensive unit that ranked top five in yards allowed, yards per play allowed, and turnovers generated.

After a disappointing Super Bowl loss, Tillman remained at the top of the defensive back rankings, despite not receiving much attention in terms of postseason accolades. Over the next four seasons, Tillman started in all but three regular season games where he totaled 13 interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns, 51 pass deflections, and 18 forced fumbles. Despite this level of production, Tillman remained Pro Bowl and All-Pro-less through the first eight seasons of his career.

Tillman had a fantastic 2010 campaign despite a .500 team finish. In 16 games, Tillman returned two of his three interceptions for touchdowns, giving him the most pick-sixes in the league, alongside recording 12 pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and 100 total tackles, the most of his entire career. Tillman was awarded his first Pro Bowl selection at the end of the season, but he would go on to have an even more impressive 2012 campaign.

By 2012, the defense had changed quite a bit since the team's Super Bowl run, but the additions of quality players such as Julius Peppers, Henry Melton, and Nick Roach helped keep the Bears atop of the league's defensive rankings. The season was Tillman's best as a professional, highlighted by his 10 forced fumbles, which led the NFL regardless of position. He also logged three interceptions, all of which were returned for touchdowns, making him the NFL's pick-six leader for two consecutive seasons. He was nominated to another Pro Bowl and was also named a First-Team All-Pro cornerback.

Charles Tillman's Retirement, Life After Football, and Chicago Bears Legacy

Over his final three seasons, two of which came with the Bears, with the third coming with the Carolina Panthers. Tillman dealt with several injuries in the back end of his career and was only able to play in 22 games in three seasons. Nonetheless, his leadership and character maintained a valuable asset for any team or locker room. In his final year in Chicago, Tillman was awarded the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his community outreach, which he enacted in several ways but mainly through his foundation that aims to provide hospitality, comfort, and entertainment to pediatric patients.

The work with his foundation especially hits home for Tillman, who was called away from training camp early in his career with a similar emergency. In 2008, Tillman received a call during practice, where he was informed that his daughter Tiana Rene was going into heart failure. Panicked, Tillman was of course able to leave practice and meet his family. His daughter was initially given a Berlin heart, an implant that is run by a computer to help the heart pump blood. She was the first recipient of this technology in state history. Thankfully, Tiana was able to find a heart donor and received a transplant shortly thereafter. Since, both Tillman and his daughter have been public supporters of organ donation.

After a dominant 13-year career in the NFL, Tillman retired following the 2015 season. In 12 years with the Bears, the cornerback totaled 36 interceptions, 133 pass deflections, a historic 42 forced fumbles, nine defensive touchdowns, and 875 total tackles. His interception total is third-best in team history and only two behind the first-place leader Gary Fencik. His forced fumble is the best in team history, with Dan Hampton's total of 34 being the only other mark above 20.

In recorded NFL history, Tillman's forced fumble total is top five all-time, and is the only non-pass rusher in the top 16. Logically, it makes more sense for a defensive end or tackle to have several forced fumbles, perhaps mainly from surprising the quarterback with a backside hit which in turn gets the ball loose. For Tillman to record this total mainly in the open field is an impressive testament to the "Peanut Punch" technique, and in correlation to his success with the move, several NFL teams and college programs continue to teach Tillman's tape to young defensive back and linebackers. Even just when watching games this fall, look for defensive backs to punch the ball directly when given the opportunity, and the announcing team will likely reminisce about the former Bears' abilities.

It is clear that Tillman impacted the game of football, as well as his community, in several ways, and the Chicago native was treated accordingly following his retirement. He was inducted into the University of Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame and was recently named a top 100 Chicago Bear of all time by the Chicago Tribune. Tillman has made an appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot and to thechagrin of several football fans, has unfortunately not been selected, yet.

Unbelievably, Tillman's career after football is potentially more captivating than his time on the gridiron. The former cornerback spent time close to the game of football immediately following his playing time, mainly by serving as an analyst for the NFL on Fox. However, Tillman stepped away to pursue a position with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, where he joined as an agent. Between his father's time in the military and his degree in criminal justice, Tillman developed an interest in an opportunity to serve his community outside of his time spent doing charity with his foundation. Tillman remains with the FBI today, but he can still be seen in official Chicago Bears media often, and he even made an appearance in this year's schedule release video.