Charles "Peanut" Tillman - Chicago Bears

1) Charles "Peanut" Tillman played 12 seasons with the Chicago Bears including two Pro Bowl selections and one season with the Carolina Panthers.

2) Charles was named Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2014, given to one NFL player annually honoring their off field and charity work as well as excellence on the field.

3) Tillman founded the Cornerstone Foundation in 2005. The mission of The Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation is "to improve the lives of critically and chronically ill children throughout Greater Chicago by providing daily support and life changing experiences." Check out all of the programs the Cornerstone Foundation provides to chronically and critically ill children including Charles' Locker, Tiana Fund, Field of Dreams and more. Please consider making a donation for this amazing foundation here in the Chicagoland area. A perfect way to start is with a $33 donation like the number Charles wore with the Chicago Bears!

4) OVERTIME- Peanut's childhood story is featured in our favorite book series The Middle School Rules as told by Sean Jensen. My boys and I love to read stories about our sports heroes and this book takes us to the young days of Charles who overcomes challenging times and surrounds himself around people who will help him out on and off the field. My boys and I learned some valuable lessons within this book that are good reminders for everyone regardless of age.

D: I want to beat my older brother Jordan at sports like football and basketball like you did with your brother Duck (as told in Middle School Rules of Charles Tillman)? What do I need to do to keep getting better?

Peanut: It wasn't until high school that I finally caught up to Duck and starting beating him. He started to get complacent and I kept working harder and getting stronger every day. I never lost to him again after that. So keep working harder than him and get stronger and you will catch up to him. It won't happen right away though.

D's Follow Up: I hope to beat my brother one day. I will keep doing workouts like push-ups, sit-ups and the bicycle to get stronger than Jordan. I hope I beat my brother when I'm in 6th grade.

J: What was the best part about living in so many different places and traveling the world?

Peanut: Learning about the culture and customs of each place and meeting so many new people of different nationalities and making new friends along the way was the best part.

J's Follow Up: I've already been to one country other than the United States. I went to Guatemala last summer. I liked it because the people were friendly and everyone was happy. It was fun to go to the markets and I climbed a volcano and visited the beaches and ruins. I think it would be cool to live in another country like Peanut did. I do think speaking different languages is hard and I would miss my friends but making new ones would be fun too.

I must admit I can't believe it took until the third post to feature a Chicago Bears player on our blog...but the time is now and there's no better Bear to showcase than Charles Tillman. Not only is Charles one of the greatest players in Chicago Bears history but he is also an outstanding human being and a great role model.

I've had the opportunity to meet Charles once before but last week my students and I were presented with a special opportunity to host a short commercial shoot featuring The Middle School Rules of Charles Tillman with Charles in attendance at our school! It was a special experience for all as Charles was hanging out on our school's playground to film the short spot. Two of my students got the chance to audition for the main role with Charles.

When he was at our school, he played catch, answered questions, signed autographs, and took pictures with the lucky fifteen students who were invited to attend. Thankfully Jordan and Danny were able to be a part of the fun too. This was the perfect opportunity to interview Charles for the blog. I noticed that the questions they came up with were more personal since we've read The Middle School Rules of Charles Tillman three times together and learned so much about Charles' childhood.

Danny's question was about his big brother Jordan who seems to beat him at everything just like Peanut's brother Duck used to beat him at every sport or game they played. Danny is having the same struggles and he can't beat Jordan at any sports or games. Even rock, paper, scissors seems to always go Jordan's way. It's tough because Danny would like to win at least one time. That's not too much to ask, right?

There is a three year gap between the two, Jordan just turned ten and Danny approaches seven in a about a month. Danny seems to be ahead of where Jordan was when he was seven, especially athletically. Because Jordan is already doing so much, Danny spends his time trying to keep up. I wonder if Jordan will get complacent like Charles' brother Duck and allow Danny to reach his level....but at the same time, Jordan is super athletic. He was named most athletic in his fourth grade class this year. The good news for Danny is that even before Charles answered this question, Danny has been obsessed with doing push-ups, sit-ups, and other excercises in an attempt to get stronger and faster. He's gotten even more serious about this thanks to Charles. It might not happen by 6th grade like Danny hopes but I think he'll close the gap at some point and Danny will have his day on top of the mountain and never look back.

Jordan asked Charles about living in many different places. Born in Chicago and making a stop in Germany, Charles attended eleven different schools during his childhood. Charles definitely knows a thing or two about traveling the world. His dad Donald Tillman Jr. was a sergeant in the United States Army and that is why Charles' family constantly needed to relocate. Although it's obvious it would be tough for a kid to move so many times and have to start fresh at eleven different schools, Jordan wanted to know what was the best part about seeing so many new places.

I've always lived in Illinois so making a big move isn't something I've been experienced. And Jordan doesn't know about this either. We did make a big family trip to Guatemala last summer to see my wife's family and her mom's native country. We've always loved the Guatemalan culture so we were able to adapt pretty quickly and take on the culture and customs of this new place quickly. It's possible for us to see how Charles could adapt so quickly to his new surroundings and make new places feel like home quickly. It's just the uncertainty of not knowing when the next move will happen and leaving new friends behind seems so tough. These experiences are what shaped Charles into the person he is today. While we don't plan on moving, we hope to give Jordan more opportunities to travel the United States and other countries to have his own unique experiences and meet new people along the way.

A huge thank you to Charles for taking time to connect with my boys and agreeing to be featured here on Vincents Go 3 on 3!