Former Bears cornerback Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman Training to Join the FBI

After leaving media, people find themselves in all kinds of different professions. Though, normally, they don’t become members of our nation’s top branch of law enforcement.

Former Chicago Bears cornerback and Fox Sports NFL analyst Charles “Peanut” Tillman, is reportedly trying to do just that.

Tillman retired from the NFL in 2015, after a 13-year career spent almost entirely in Chicago. After leaving the “Windy City,” Tillman joined Fox Sports as an NFL panelist. The gig didn’t last long, however, Tillman didn’t return this year as Fox put the show through a major personnel overhaul.

With Tillman suddenly out of the public eye, some had questioned what had become of him. That question has been answered by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Charles Tillman is training to become an FBI Agent: “The former Chicago Bears cornerback recently began training to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation, multiple individuals told the Tribune, including a high-ranking law enforcement source who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.”

While the career choice initially comes as a bit of a shock, a closer look at Tillman’s history suggests this all makes perfect sense.

According to the Tribune:

Tillman earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette before the Bears drafted him in the second round in 2003. He grew up in a military family — his father, Donald Tillman Jr., was a sergeant in the Army — and attended 11 schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Tillman not only supports children’s charities through his Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation, he also has long been active in military endeavors. In 2010, he spent eight days on a USO tour visit with troops in Iraq and Kuwait. He was selected as the winner of the NFL’s Salute to Service award in 2012.

For those wondering how a guy who played in the NFL for 13 years could possibly meet the FBI’s age requirements, Biggs clears that up as well: “FBI guidelines mandate prospective candidates for hiring as a special agent must be at least 23 years old but younger than 37 at the time of appointment. Tillman turns 37 on Feb. 23.”

This story comes at an incredibly good time for NFL fans sick of seeing athletes disgracing the flag, or saying negative things about law enforcement. Here you have a recently retired player who was clearly brought up with an appreciation for the military, law enforcement, and the country. Training to prepare himself for an incredibly difficult selection process, potentially, with great risk to life and limb should he become an agent.

If we lived in a world where the NFL valued the “Peanut” Tillman’s more than they valued the Michael Bennett’s and Colin Kaepernick’s, we’d probably hear a lot more about it. Instead, we get…well…the opposite of that.