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.
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.
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.