By Jordan Long
On Monday, cornerback Charles Tillman made the difficult decision to walk away from the NFL. According to ESPN, Tillman said, “I’ve had 13 amazing years on two great teams and I’m just thankful for the love and support that I got from my teammates, the fans and my coaches. I’m thankful to everyone who has helped me get to where I am right now because I definitely didn’t do it by myself.” Let’s take a look back at his career.
Tillman was originally drafted in the 2nd-round of the 2003 NFL draft. In his first season he had a total of 83 tackles, 1 sack, and 4 interceptions. That’s pretty good for a rookie cornerback. Quarterbacks were testing him and Tillman was making them pay with interceptions. This was just a taste of what he could do in the NFL. Tillman would stay with the Chicago Bears for 12 years. He recorded 3 seasons with 5 interceptions.
Last April, Tillman decided to sign with the Carolina Panthers. I thought this was an excellent deal. They already had a decent defense and adding Tillman with Josh Norman was going to create one of the best cornerback tandems in the league, at least on paper. Both of them have the ability to knock the ball away from wide receivers and intercept the football. Tillman appeared in 12 games for the Panthers. He had 55 tackles and 2 interceptions helping the Carolina Panthers to a record of 15-1 and the number 1 seed in the NFC. Tillman would miss the Panthers run to the Super Bowl because he suffered an ACL tear in the final game of the regular season. Tillman watched as the Panthers went all the way to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the Denver Broncos.
Tillman leaves this game with 912 tackles, 3 sacks, and 38 interceptions. He was also voted to the Pro Bowl game twice and selected to the First-Team All-Pro in 2012.
I always enjoyed watching Tillman play. Quarterbacks couldn’t throw his way because of his knack of intercepting the ball. Those interceptions would equal touchdowns for him or a short field for his team, which was the difference in a win. Even when he didn’t intercept the football, he would affect the play by knocking the football down. Tillman will be missed in the game of football.
How will you remember Charles Tillman?
Thank you for the insight Adam. Great to hear he was a class act off the field as well.