Former Chicago Bears star Charles “Peanut” Tillman found a second career your rarely see from former NFL players: FBI agent. That job has now come to an end.
The Pro Bowl cornerback explained his decision to resign from the FBI in an episode of “The Pivot” podcast released this week, citing his disagreement with the Trump administration policies. Tillman pointed to immigration as a specific sticking point:
“Let me start by saying this: FBI was great to me. I did awesome. I worked with an amazing group of individuals. I think some of the things that they’re doing now, I personally didn’t agree with … immigration. I didn’t agree with how the administration came in and tried to make individuals do things against their — it didn’t sit right. An example being immigration, right?
“Everybody was told, ‘You’re going to go after the most dangerous criminals,’ but what you see on TV and what actually was happening was, people weren’t going after that. Personally that didn’t sit right with me, that didn’t sit right with my conscience. You have the ability to refuse an order.”
More than 20% of all FBI agents have reportedly been diverted to immigration enforcement as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown. Tillman indicated the shift hasn’t been welcomed by some of his former colleagues, who couldn’t follow him out because they lacked the resources of a former NFL player:
“I want to be on the right side of history when it’s all said and done. Do I think there are individuals in the organization, do they like doing some of the stuff that they’re doing? Absolutely not. I think they hate it. I was in a different position because of my previous career.
“I made enough money to where I could just walk away and say ‘You know what guys? I’m OK. I think I’m good. My first eight years, I’ve been solid, we were doing some good things. Some of the stuff you guys are doing now, I don’t necessarily agree with.’ And that’s not in Chicago, that comes from Washington.’
Per OverTheCap, Tillman made $49.1 million in his NFL career, a figure that doesn’t include endorsement money.
Despite the exit, the 44-year-old Tillman was very positive about his time with the FBI overall. He began training for the agency a year after his retirement and specifically spoke of his interest in public service on the podcast. As the son of a U.S. Army sergeant, he long believed that interest would take him to the military, but he landed on the FBI instead.
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He described his early days with the agency as almost overwhelming, but eventually got to the point where he felt he belonged. There were also apparently times when he would be recognized as a former NFL player during raids.
Tillman played in the NFL for 13 years, 12 of them with the Bears. He earned two Pro Bowl selections and gained fame for “Peanut Punch,” a technique that still has him tied for sixth all-time on the NFL forced fumble leaderboard.
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