Panthers’ Charles Tillman talks new book, being on undefeated team
The playbook for many successful professional athletes, particularly once they step away from the game, often includes a biography recounting great victories and the journey he or she took to greatness.
In his first year with the Carolina Panthers after a dozen seasons with the Chicago Bears, cornerback Charles Tillman – you might know him better as Peanut – has gone a different route. “The Middle School Rules of Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman”, being released on Sunday, focuses on Tillman’s upbringing and family, the mistakes he made and lessons he learned on his way to becoming a second-round draft pick and 13-year NFL veteran.
The book, which he worked on with former Bears and Minnesota Vikings beat writer Sean Jensen, is aimed at 9-to-14-year-olds. With four young children of his own, that aspect of the project appealed to Tillman.
“I think most biogrpahies are geared toward adults, but when you look at athletes and celebrities in general, a lot of people that look up to them are kids,” Tillman said in a phone interview. “I wasn’t always ‘Charles Tillman, successful football player’, at one time I was third-grader who struggled at division and cursive.
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“I’m the same as all these kids in school now; the only thing that has changed is time. We wanted to showcase that we recognize that, I went throught that, you’re not alone. If we help one kid, who thinks, ‘Charles Tillman went through the same thing’, ‘Charles Tillman had the same rules from his parents, they’re not crazy, they do work’ [then the book is a success].”
Tillman’s father, Donald, was an Army M.P., so the family moved quite a bit in his younger years, from Illinois to Louisiana to Germany to California before settling in Copperas Cove, Texas just before Charles was in high school.
“Middle School Rules” (Jensen did the first book in the series with Brian Urlacher) has short, child-friendly chapters, each one centered around one of TIllman’s family rules or a lesson, like “Think before you act,” which Tillman uses for a story from his time in Germany, when he and his older brother left when some friends were about to set off fireworks. Those boys were in trouble with German police after putting the fireworks in tailpipes and shot them at houses.
Among the other rules: “It’s alright to ask for help,” “The best player plays,” and “Be persistent” – that one comes up in the chapter when Tillman talks about the first time he finally beat his brother one-on-one in basketball.
His children are 10, 7, 6 and 3. His oldest thinks dad’s book is “cool” but the 7- and 6-year old are indifferent at this point.
Tillman’s 10-year old “thinks it’s a good idea and she’s read it and asked me certain questions about certain chapters in the book. I think that’s cool, to have my childhood documented.”
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A two-time Pro Bowler, first-team All-Pro in 2012, the only defensive back in league history with over 40 forced fumbles and the league’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2013 for his play on the field and exemplary charitable work off it, Tillman is still playing at a high level at 34 years old. He signed with the Panthers in April, a move that reunited him with former Bears coach Ron Rivera, who is the head coach in Carolina. Tillman has started all six games for the 6-0 Panthers.
“A lot of changes, but necessary changes, appropriate changes, changes that I was willing to be part of,” Tillman said of being in a new organization after 12 years with the Bears. “And as they say, change can be good. I think I made the right deicison going to Carolina to be part of their team, to be part of great defense. I was glad that they wanted me, I was humbled by that.”
You can pre-order “MIddle School Rules” through Amazon.com.
