Charles Tillman shares why he loves Ben Johnson & who’s standing out on Bears | Spiegel & Holmes

as per usual. And here’s why I wanted to bring you on, Charles, my partner Matt Spiegel. Hello. You guys are in the same space when talking about Ben Johnson. And for people who didn’t see it on Marquee, what’s your opinion of Ben Johnson and what he’s done for the Bears as a franchise? I think he’s doing an amazing job. I think he’s holding players accountable and he’s building a culture of winning. Most people think that athletes know how to win. Most people think that athletes are competitive, but sometimes you have to teach an athlete how to win. Even if you’ve made it to the highest level, and we’ll just call it the NFL, some players have to learn how to win. Some players have to be taught how to win. And it’s those little things, those little minute things, the discipline when uh two minutes left, one minute left, third down, we need the first down. It’s the culture he’s building. And he said it in his press conference. just like, yo, we didn’t blink. We got hit in the face and we didn’t blink. It’s taking time. The Chicago Bears are the Detroit Lions of three years ago with Dan Campbell. He is building a culture. He is building a a a team. He is changing the culture and he is teaching these players how to win despite them coming from other teams and other, you know, successful programs. It’s a matter of how do I get 53 guys believing in one common goal and having 53 guys playing for their teammate, playing for the other person. You can’t want it for yourself. You got to want it for the next man as much as you want it for yourself. You got to play for your brother. You got to play for the man next to you. And I think he’s doing a hell of a job uh with the Chicago Bears this year. So So I mean I look I I agree and it’s music to my ears to hear you liken him to the Lions from three years ago. Hell, as an organization, the Lions, you know, it did a lot of things at the top that I I have I had been hoping that the Bears would follow, and they have followed some of those. But so, tell us more about like how do you get all 53 to want to do it for the brother next to you and for the guy next to you and to kind of get out of your own selfishness? Like, how do you how do you get that across as a head coach? Well, you got to be able to connect with the players. You can’t just go in there and start changing and correcting people. You got to connect before you correct. And I think he’s connected with these players. Um Caleb Williams, he he was at the podium and he goes, “I’m excited. I I wake up and now I’m sure some of this a little extra, but he says, “I wake up excited knowing that Ben Johnson is my coach. I love playing for this guy. I don’t think there is not one person in that room that wouldn’t run through a wall for Ben Johnson. He is a coach that has the it factor. He was the number one coach available or he was the number one uh prospect uh to become a head coach. And why was that? It’s because he has that it factor. The it factor to me is there’s this special characteristic that I can’t even describe. It’s just it’s just this thing that he has. Co to me Coach Smith had it. Lovey Smith had the it factor. Um, it’s it’s the way he motivates his players, the way he speaks to his players, the way he challenges his players, and the way he just interacts with them. He’s just he’s he’s a coach, but he’s one of the guys, and old guys, young guys, they respect that. They really do. So, uh, I wrote it down, too, when he said it. Uh Charles Caleb Williams said, quote, “I’m excited every single day that I get to wake up and be coached by him.” And it just kind of rolled out of his mouth. Like, damn. Cale like Caleb knows the hard coaching is what he needs. And he’s also getting the love and everything else. Um, did you hear Caleb? Hold on real quick. Hold on real quick. He also said, “We believe in him. We trust him. We have faith in him.” That’s big. that is that never happened in I mean I know he was only under the last uh coaching staff for one season but he had he he never said that he’s only been with them half a season he said we believe in him we trust him we have faith in him believe trust and faith that those are those are some powerful words man yeah it is man for for a kid to get there um and believe in his coach like that I also love that I also love that he admitted he screwed up that on the he said on the DeAndre Swift touchdown He’s like, “Oh, yeah. I got the play call wrong.” Something about that humility from Caleb made me smile. You know what I mean? Yeah. Well, I I think people people put a lot of stress on the quarterback. And I think quarterbacks put a lot of stress on themselves. I love it. He’s accountable. I said it earlier. He’s holding players accountable. And for Caleb just to come out, yeah, hey, I screwed up. That one’s on me. People appreciate that. People know you’re not perfect. We know you’re going to make mistakes. I played 13 years. I have never played a perfect game. Never in my life. I always strive for perfection, but I knew I wouldn’t get it. I was always chasing it. But that that’s what makes you that’s what makes the good ones great because they know they’re not going to be perfect, but they still strive for that excellence and the perfection all times. I feel like the Tennessee games pretty never mind. Charles Tilman spending some time with us here on the Spiegel and home show. I thought about you guys and your teams, Charles, on on Monday night. And the reason is I’m watching the game play out and I’m seeing the takeaways and I’m like, that is a plus one. That’s a plus two, that’s a plus three. And listening to Lovey Smith for as many years as I listened to him, I knew that the percentage was above 90% when you win the turnover margin by three or more. So, watching them play that way and be in a spot to take advantage of the mistakes that Washington made, I was pretty proud of their effort in that game to not fold and think that they were going to lose and find ways to get themselves back in it. Shout out to Al Harris, Chicago Bears DB coach, former AllPro, Pro Bowler for that green team. Kevin By said, Kevin safety, he said, shout out to Al Harris because he’s always talking about taking the ball away. He always puts it on our mind. He always talks about it. He puts it in the universe. To me, it’s no different than when we played. Lovey Smith, uh, uh, Chico, uh, Babage, Wilks, Hulk, all the coaches, uh, Marinelli, every single coach talked about taking the ball away. It wasn’t just the players. It was the coaches preaching it in meetings. It was the players walking around uh, slapping playbooks out of people’s hands. It was us doing it every single snap in practice. To me, I’m really not surprised that they got three takeaways. the way Kevin spoke in his interviews, like we do it all the time in practice. And if you look at the interviews from ‘ 04 to 2012 when Lovey was there, we did it all the time. We had takeaways in practice every day. So, it’s not a surprise that we are top three, top four in takeaways right now and we’re halfway through the season. I wouldn’t be surprised. I would be surprised if we don’t lead the league or if we’re not the top one, two, top three in takeaways uh come the end of the season. I feel like Charles Tilman, we are seeing a moment for Tyreek Stevenson where he’s embracing the opportunity, the responsibility, and showing some growth. But what do you see watching him play corner and hearing him the way that he breaks it down the last three weeks or so? I like growth. Um, I I I think this week was tough for him because it was a big reminder of him being just young and not being the the being locked into the game, making a mistake last year in Washington. And for him to come out, I I thought he had I thought he played well. I think he’s playing well, you know, with uh Jaylen uh with Jaylen Johnson out on IR. This is a prime opportunity for him to say, “Hey, yeah, I know he’s our number one corner, but hey, look at me, too.” I think this is the perfect opportunity for him to shine and let them know that he is a prime candidate to be the top corner for the Chicago Bears when when Jaylen is out. And it makes it competitive, too. You know, I’m I’m all about the competition within the team, and I this is just a good opportunity for him to showcase his talent, not just for the Chicago Bears, but hey, let the league know, I know our number one corner went out, but I’m the new number one corner and I’m going to show you. And I I love his his attitude and how he’s responded to that. I I want to get your opinion as a corner on a couple of the offensive players of the Bears. What do you think about Roma Dunay? I like his afro. Straight cash money, homes. Straight cash money. That was the first thing I saw when I Oh my god, I love it. No, I like I like Roman Dun. I I like his style. I like how he plays. I wish he’d have caught the damn ball, but it came out. That would have been an amazing catch he had. Um, I like his style. I think he’s growing. I think he’s still learning the position. Um, like learning just routes. uh uh route rec or excuse me recognizing curvatures a little bit better getting off of getting off jams you know he’s perfecting perfecting his craft every day I like what I see uh DJ Moore workhorse dude’s just tough he there isn’t a position he can’t play minus maybe I’ll say tight end but run throw him in the back field at running back he can even throw he can run he runs great routes I just think he’s got he to me DJ shows a lot of grit He’s a He’s a really tough player. And a lot of times you don’t see that in uh receivers. They’re, you know, the primadanas like, “Oh, I I jam my finger. I can’t catch the ball.” Nah, I He’s a He a dog. I I like him. I like him a lot. What about He’s a real tough player. What about Luther Burton Jr.? Cuz I like that guy with the ball in his hands. What number is he? He changes his number all the damn time. I don’t know who he is. What number is he? He does. He does change his number and now he’s got the number that he wants which is great. It’s number 10. Yeah. No, I like him. I want to see more of him. I want to see him get the ball more. I want to see him uh involved in the offense a little bit more. But what I have seen so far, I really do like it. He’s He showed me a lot and I’m I’m very glad that they were able to draft him and get him. I just I just want to see more of him because he’s he’s a playmaker. when the ball is in his hands, he makes plays. We had a beautiful moment on yesterday’s show talking to your former teammate Matt Forte. Okay, Charles. And he said that when he’s in a car and he’s driving by a field of grass and he sees the space, he just wants to get out and run because he’s a running back and he still sees that grass. He’s like, “Oh man.” So, I’m wondering for you like if you see a ball flying towards you or anywhere in your vicinity, do you want to get up and just smack it down? Or if you see somebody walking with the loaf of bread, do you punch it out? Like, how does this how does this manifest for you that muscle memory of being a player in your everyday life? Only when I’m watching football players. So, I I help coach Ed Stevenson on Friday nights with uh with with Dub or Spice. We coach uh his son, my little nephew, uh aunt. He’s a player. And watching and watching them watching high school kids play, being on the sideline. Yeah. I get it’s it’s a it’s a tease. It’s like, oh my god, I’m Oh my god. Get the ball. It’s right there. Uh, I’ve been I’ve been going to England a lot and I’ve been going to LRA, England and I’ve been helping the NFL academy, these uh these young international kids in in Europe play football and they’re amazing kids and teaching them the game of football and coaching and helping them. I get excited about that. And there might been a time or two where we’re at a drill and I’m walking by a player and I I just punch it out like last minute. So I told it’s something that just it never leaves. It’s I know I’ll never get a force fumble in a football game, but it’s still on my mind. I I still do it. Charles, we’re coming up on Halloween. Can you tell the Bob Babage story without cussing? I’ll try. Okay. I’m a prankster and I love to scare people. Scaring people is my joy. It’s It’s my happy place. So Todd Johnson and I, we’re in our third year. Me, Bad Todd Johnson, we all live on the same block in Byron Circle in Lake Bluff, Illinois. We all lived at this uh address or this little uh subdivision, the sanctuary. Well, I get this costume. First off, I’m a huge fan of uh Step Brothers, John C. Riley, Will Wolf Ferrell, and there’s a scene in the movie where it might be John C. Riley’s in his underwear and a collar shirt and he’s got this Chewbacca mask on, right? So, I’m a big rich kid. So, I was like, “Oo, I want that mask.” So, I buy the mask. I bought the whole costume. I’m scaring people, scaring, you know, people around the house. And I was like, “Oh, I’m a scared badge.” I called Todd. We walk over to his house and I just said, “Hey,” I called his wife and said, “Let me know when he comes home.” She calls me. She lets us know when he comes home. And we’re sitting on the side of his house. And the garage door goes open. Todd Johnson has the camera and he’s recording and I run up to Babage as he sticks his key in the door and he’s about to go inside and I just jump up and go and it’s about it’s probably about 11 10:30 11:00 at night. He had no clue and he just kind Oh snap. Let me cancel that. Sorry. Are we still there guys? Can y’all hear me? Oh yes sir. You still got it. Yeah. So I I I I I jump up and go and he screams and just goes scared the you know what out of him. And it was just one of my all-time greatest scares. One of my all-time greatest scares. It was a whole lot of fun.

On the Spiegel & Holmes Show, legendary Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman praised first-year head coach Ben Johnson for instilling a new culture in the organization. He also discussed how Bears second-year receiver Rome Odunze and rookie receiver Luther Burden III are developing.

#ChicagoBears #CharlesTillman #BenJohnson #nfl

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42 comments

  2. I met this full back that played for the Chicago bears they called him rock. Damian Shelton. I asked him how was that defense for the bears , he said they were like a gang they were to their selves didnt really mess with the offensive players 😮

  11. Charles Tillman, thank you for all your service both on and off the field! Huge fan and love teaching my kids about principled role models such as yourself!

  14. It's really impressive what Stevenson has done since that Redskins game, and the remainder of last year/first two games this year.
    Ultimately, I think it will make him a better player – few players have ever had that kind of epic mistake, on live TV, replayed over and over. And he's battling back from it. Shows a lot of grit.

  15. Tillman permanently invented an approach to defense as a player that is now common in the NFL. I see it every week, defensive players employing the 'punch'. HOF.

    And he was a DB that could shut down Randy Moss consistently.
    Also Spiegel's question about the 'muscle memory' response after retiring from a carreer was really good at illuminating a perspective that many experience. I guess Forte should actually get credit for that one.

  23. 3 things that needs to happen,1st: Peanut in the HOF.
    2nd: Peanut in the Bears ROH.
    3rd: Change the punching the ball out to officially be called the Peanut Punch.

  24. If all of us added the Peanut punch to our personal lives, we would all be in a better place. Whatever the peanut punch means to you in your life just go the extra mile to try a little harder, to try to force the turnover and flip the field entirely.

  30. This is a Bears "building year" of character, effort, and professionalism. It will take time and give the Bears a solid foundation of respect in the NFL for years to come. This isn't the typical cut everyone and start over rebuilding years.

  31. Discipline like tee Higgins going down at the 6 yard line to milk. The clock friermuth could’ve did the same thing, but he scored a touchdown.

  35. Charles Peanut Tillman is one of the greatest cornerbacks in Chicago Bears history. Uhrlacher and Rivera get most of the credit for the Bears early 21st century defense, but to me, it was as much TIllman and Mike Brown that made those defenses truly special. Hope he gets some coaching opportunities we can follow!

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