Charles Tillman: FBI career couldn't compare to the NFL

Charles Tillman spent eight years with the FBI after hanging up his cleats, then left the bureau over the Trump administration's ICE policies and tactics. Asked about the switch, the former Chicago Bears defensive back put it plainly: "I loved my time in the FBI but nothing can compare to the NFL."

Tillman, 45, played 168 games for his hometown Bears across 13 NFL seasons. His mother gave him the nickname "Peanut" when he was a child, and he built his reputation on the "Peanut Punch" — a strip technique that knocked the ball loose from receivers who did not see it coming.

This summer he coached flag football to children in Liverpool. Tillman attended a dozen schools around the world growing up, the son of a father in the military, and he says that background still shapes how he talks to the kids he coaches now.

"Absolutely. 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," he said.

He rejects the idea that he had to force himself to be sociable as a child arriving in unfamiliar classrooms. "No, when I tried to make friends or meet new people, it came from a genuine place. 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. 'OK, this is what they do in Texas. 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," Tillman said.

One of those postings was West Germany. Asked how much of the language stuck, he said: "Not good. 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."