Defensive back Charles Tillman played 168 games for his hometown team Chicago Bears across 13 NFL seasons. Nicknamed “Peanut” as a child by his mother, he became renowned for the Peanut Punch, where he would whack the ball out of the hands of unsuspecting receivers. After retiring from playing, he spent eight years in the FBI before quitting over the Trump administration’s ICE policies and tactics.
Now 45, he spent some of his summer in England, teaching flag football to kids in Liverpool. You went to a dozen schools around the world as a child. Do you share your own experiences when you coach kids now?
I share a great deal because it helped shape me into the person I am today. My dad being in the military and us moving around so much helped my personality. I’m very outgoing and a lot of that stems from my childhood, always being the new kid in school and having to make new friends.
So, I talk about those experiences with the kids when it feels appropriate.” When you walked into a new classroom full of strangers did you have to force yourself to be extrovert? I looked at it as another adventure: ‘Oh, wow, I’ve never been to this country or this state before. Let’s learn about northern California.
Let’s learn about West Germany.’ I had a chance to see different cultures and how people lived. This is how they do it in Louisiana’. I was pretty well rounded.
And it made me comfortable being around so many different cultures and ethnicities. I loved it.” How’s your German? When I lived there, I could speak a little, because they taught us it in school and I was young, so my brain retained it.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
