To me, there is one player who defines what I want from a Chicago Bear, and he happens to be my favorite defensive back of all time–Charles “Peanut” Tillman.
Let’s begin with the obvious, in that Tillman was an absolute technician at cornerback. With 133 defended passes over his 12 years in Chicago, he also has an unquantifiable number of “not worth its,” whereby opposing quarterbacks simply went somewhere else with the football rather than risk an incompletion, a pick (3 per year) or a forced fumble
(42 in 12 years) even after the ball was completed. He was one of the few who could hold Calvin Johnson in check, forcing an effective passer rating to “Megatron” of 70.9 in their 12 matchups. Tillman helped change the game with his “Peanut Punch”, creating what is now an essential defensive technique. When the Bears needed a big play in the secondary, he was the man who delivered.
But it I’m honest, that was only part of why I was always partial to #33. He was also a class act off the field. The Walter Payton Man of the Year award-winner was courteous, insightful, and dedicated to making a positive difference in his community. Cheering for Peanut always felt like cheering for one of the good guys, and that made it even better that he was a Bear.
I am also partial to how he decided to approach a bit of homework from a math class more than a decade ago, showing both courtesy and passion for the game, all while asserting his own tenacious control of the situation. Because that’s what he did.
What about you? Who’s your favorite Bears’ defensive back?
