You didn’t want to mess with Charles “Peanut” Tillman during his NFL playing days. The same certainly should hold true at his new job.
The former Chicago Bears cornerback is training to become an FBI agent, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday, citing sources that included a “high-ranking law enforcement” official.
Tillman isn’t just doing this on a whim, though. The former All-Pro, who retired in July 2016 after 13 NFL seasons, earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and was raised in a military family. (His father, Donald, was an Army sergeant.) He even spent some offseasons shadowing law enforcement officials while in the NFL, a source told ESPN.
Tillman also spent eight days with troops in Iraq and Kuwait on a USO tour visit in 2010 and won the NFL’s Salute to Service award in 2012.
The two-time Pro Bowler, who played 12 seasons for the Bears and one for the Carolina Panthers in 2015, was most well-known for the “Peanut Punch,” a unique style of forcing fumbles that helped him rack up 44 forced fumbles in his career, including 10 in a single season. He also was a very popular player and spent his first year in retirement as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports.
If the 36-year-old does want to become an FBI agent, the time to strike is now: FBI special agents must be younger than 37 at the time of their appointment.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
