Cut open that DJ Moore ensode touchdown touchdown pairs. I am Jeff Joniack blitzes on, Donnie got what was like playing for coache goodgo I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure coming is a big trouble, Donnie Goes Mottest.
Sweat Bears et Cetera, brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Well, it's been an emotional and contemplative week at Hallis Hall with the entire McCaskey Hallis family, Bears employees, coaches, players, fans, ex players, and of course the passing of Virginia Hallis. McCaskey laid the rest at the age of one hundred and two with Super Bowl winning Bears guard top there. I'm Jeff Joniac and this is episode one of the Bears et Cetera podcast. It's brought to you by Miller Lte. Our special guest this week is the one and only
on our Zoom call. It's Nutty Buddy, but it is Peanut, Charles Peena Tilmey kind enough to join us. So you doing, Charles, Nutty Buddy? Where did this come from?
Lance Lance Briggs. He he got me. He gave me the nickname Nutty Buddy. So when I don't want to use my name peanut Tin, I'll just use uh, I'll just use Nutty Buddy.
From what I understand, there was one person who would never call you peanut Tillman, and that would be the late Missus McCaskey. Always Charles, correct.
Always Charles. She was man one o two. How about can we just comment that. We'll talk about that for a second, one o two, one hundred and two years old. How about that? How blessed was she? And to not only be it, to live the wonderful life, to be one hundred and two. She was witted at one hundred and two. She could walk and talk and mentally she was as sharp as attack. She she yeah, she was, she was with it. I I that's that's that's a that's a great way to go out. One O two
family kids grant like that's man. I hope I'm that blessed. You know.
The thing about yesterday or the service for Virginia McCaskey is that everybody that I see because of the people that she's brought together throughout her lifetime in my lifetime. I enjoy seeing everybody. And it's kind of a weird set of circumstances because when I was at my mom's service and my dad's service, eventually, every once in a while you do get emotionally by the eye contact you made. The only person I got emotional with when I saw him walk into the building was Virginia McCaskey.
But yesterday, when I was at that event, the.
Alumni that came before me, the alumni that came after me, I truly enjoy seeing being around, hugging, handshaken, whatever course of the conversation it takes you. And she is solely responsible for the gratitude inside that room yesterday that everybody appreciated absolutely.
I mean.
It was.
It was a funeral service, however she was celebrated, you know, like I mean that was that was a feeling that I got. I think the service, it was a beautiful service, and it was it was a joyous I wish we could have been together on a different occasion. However, it was a great. It was great seeing my teammates, you know, other other owners, the commissioner fellow alone. It was I
don't want to use the word a joyous occasion. However, we were able to We were able to smile and celebrate Miss mccaski.
You know what, I heard a quote the other day and it said, with grief, there can be happiness. Yeah, and and and it kind of fit the room there, because the grief that we are all suffering with the passing of Virginia McCaskey, there's also a happiness that goes with eye contact of guys you like seeing, and whether it's sitting in the pew and getting a chance to say hi to a guy like Erlacker, who I have such admiration for as the football player that I broadcast
for for all those years. But then after our careers are over, it's almost like we become not he and I, but all the guys in that room become better friends because everything that we've we've gone through in our in our professional lifetime.
Yeah, I know, the one thing I've learned about the funerals, and then I haven't done a ton, but I've been to a few, and they always put things in perspective and it makes you see, It makes you see the bigger picture, you know, And and every every hers was missus mccaskey's funeral is no different than your say, and it just makes me you want to see the bigger picture as far as like, you know, the relationship I have with my kids, my friends, being kind, treating people
with kindness and just you know, just showing love and just appreciation for all the things that are more. And yeah, I'm grateful to you have known her. I'm grateful to have really really known her. The thing that I want people to know about Miss McCaskey is she when my daughter went through her heart transplant, Ms McCaskey felt I think she felt so bad to where she couldn't do anything. So she wrote she wrote me a handwritten letter, great penmanship,
she wrote this letter. Yeah, she wrote this letter in my family and I and essentially just said, you know, I'm sorry for what for what you're going through, and you know, please I will be praying for you and your family and your daughter, especially for speedy and healthy recovery.
And you know, made the Lord bless you. I mean, just a very She was a kind, gentle, sweethearted woman, and I was very appreciative of the main owner reaching out to myself and my family at that time and that meant the world to me.
For savings and service. Get more with Geico. Yes, there's the maternal instinct that really any person that was that like a.
Drop for uh, it was and we got a lot of that was that was that was funny. But but just throw them in there. Yeah, it's hilarious.
You'll get more of them. You'll get more of.
It's like you got like advertisement to rents.
Yeah, we gotta spread we gotta spread them out. We can't do them all in once.
Some repeat.
But but I gotta say that it's it's the maternal instincts. And she, in fact, no matter who she came in contact,
there was a motherly aspect about her. For this woman who was a mother of eleven children and as you pointed out, the many grandchildren, the great grandchildren, the four great great grandchildren, and being at the service at the at the way of the day before and spending some four hours there and just seeing the line and I don't know how many people actually went through that line over the course of seven eight hours, but everybody, and as Tom you referred to, it did feel like a
family environment, a family reunion of sorts, even though we are not a part of the family. The McCaskey hallis family. We are in a sense if you've been around the organization for as long time he forty years, pe in it a couple decades here myself. Wow, three decades. It's a crazy number. And you are welcomed into her family. And no matter if you played or in our case, broadcast, or if you're in the cafeteria working that line. I mean, that's the unique aspect of it. She brought people together.
She did bring people together, and I hope she is upstairs with our maker, you know, seeing her hubby, her dad, and all the people that she missed out on, and you know, her son and her kids. I don't know to her kids had pass away, So I hope they're up upstairs having a grand old time.
You know, Charles, I've always wanted to ask you this question because there's a little there's some similarities in our upbringing with the Chicago Bears. I remember going to the Hula Bowl when you played at Maui Memorial Stadium, when you are senior in college and.
I didn't know who you were. I didn't know a lot about you.
I was just watching you guys play football, and then you came to the Chicago Bears, and you walk in that door as a young kid, you walk out the door as a more mature kid. So when I left the Bears, I chose to go to the Miami Dolphins. When you left the Bears, you chose to go to the Carolina Panthers. Was an easy choice for you? Did you not want to leave the Bears behind? Because it wasn't a just it wasn't a clear cut decision, Okay, I'm going wherever I'm going to go. I had to
think about it because of we were raised by the Bears. Yeah, but then it was a difficult decision.
It was extremely difficult. It's funny you say that, and I haven't thought about that in a while. That's a really good question. Yeah, it was a very difficult decision. I didn't I didn't want to leave. I was I was actually scared to leave because Chicago was the only thing that I knew and I was very comfortable. I liked the situation. I liked the organization. I liked my teammates, I liked my house, I liked the area. I liked our fans, I liked the team. I like, you know,
this is the people in the building. I was extremely comfortable, so it was it was extremely hard to leave.
What made it.
Easier is when they didn't retain my contract and I said, all right, cool. That made it a little bit easier when they said we're not signing you again. So that made it a little easier to leave and go to a different team. But initially I was I was scared. Thomas Davis tried to get me to to Carolina years ago, but I was just like, no, man in Chicago, like, I'm cool here. He wanted me to go two years prior to that, and I just kept resigning with Chicago. He kept tronto. I was just like, no, man, I
like Chicago. It's the only thing I know. So yeah, it was definitely definitely a hard decision to leave. You're absolutely right, you know what.
I wish that for this current team, Like the longer you stay, the more you obviously grow roots here. You have family, you don't want to move your kids. It's a great city. And if you're a Bear, your love forever. If you're a Bear who wins, you're honored forever. You know, if you win a super Bowl like Tommy or just if you're one of the greats of the game. You're going to always have a place and everybody's heart here in Chicago. So I hope, I wish that for guys.
The constant change obviously is not allowed for that in recent years, but I certainly hope that for this particular bunch, right, No, Well, I.
Think that's probably one of the sad things about the sport is guys, and it's it's kind of the average. It's kind of just what people do.
You go.
Three years, four years, and then you're off to a new team. You know, Tom, what I can appreciate about your when you played, most of the time, you just stayed in your position. Excuse me, you stayed at one organization for the entirety of a career. I'd kind of like to see that more. But with how the game is and contracts, you know, sometimes this is not the right fit. So I totally get it, and I totally respect it. However, like you said, Jeff, yeah, I hope
that the nucleus, the core group of these guys. I hope they stay together for a while because they have a lot of potential to do a lot of amazing things. You know.
It's one thing that's I think The most amazing thing about you, Charles is the further you become removed from the game as a player, the bigger you get.
Ye, because.
It's true, Well, it's between Pop Warner, high school football, college football, Canadian League, the NFL, the UFL. There's I hear Peanut punch week in and week out. There's never a weekend goes by that there's not some highlight that that is brought up. And then that's the amazing thing about you and the success of your career, because I still think cornerback is the second most difficult in football
to play outside of quarterback. And then your unique brand, your unique style of playing that position, and then what you left in your legacy in the way it's taught, coach preached. Now it's amazing because every weekend I watch football and I watch highlights.
I think at Charles Tillman, Well.
They're talking about it too every time, especially in.
The postseason, because they make references to them, and it's like, oh my god. I mean, there's not a day go by that you don't hear about him.
I'm I'm really honored by that. It's it's funny to just that you all say that obviously the New York not New York, excuse me, the Eagles. Sirianni. He he made the comment and he said, yeah, we watched the Peanuts. Tell me. I told my video guy, hey, get every punch out that that man had, and he said, I showed him to our team. I showed him and I thought it was I thought it was great. I'm I'm I'm honored by it. And I had a chance to talk to one of the linebackers, Bond.
Yeah.
I talked to Bond and he literally is like, hey man, we've been watching the film. I'm a huge fan. And then him and I we just chopped it up and had a conversation and really just I gave him a quick tip like, hey man, here's you know. This is what I this is how I was successful at it. Make it your own. But when a guy does this, this is what I'm doing. When he does this, this is what I'll do. I'll count with this. So just trying to give him some tools to to help himself win.
But yeah, I appreciate it. I love the fact that it's kind of changed the game and people are doing it. You know, defensive players are making a cautious effort to just not just make the tackle by like with force, but they're actually attempting to punch the ball out, not the old school get it, rip it and you know the thing that they taught in high school back in the day when I played. But now they're just like, nah, he don't even do this some more, just get in
there and punch that thing. So yeah, man, I like to think I was a guy that bought out thinking outside the box. And yeah, it's something that's stuck and I'm I'm kind of I'm really proud of I'm really proud of my stylog.
The other thing is catching a good thing, your peanut. The peanut punch just rolls off your tongue. That's that's something that's going to live forever in the NFL.
Right if your name was like Larry, it just wouldn't work Larry Larry.
Yeah, we'd have to come up with something different.
Yeah.
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Don you just ask me what time it is. I think it's Miller Time.
You were you were a couple things quick because the week included the passing of your first coach, UH coach, Jaron Dick, Jaron passing away suddenly at the age of seventy two. Just talking to Briner Lacker at the ceremony the other day, just that just his face is stunned. I mean, it's it's it's a lot because he met a lot to all of us. That was the first year I was the play by play anouncer for the
Bears with Tom and how Barkish and Dick Guron. You know, I asked a lot of advice of Dick Duron about that first year and it was a playoff year. It was a great year.
Yeah, I was.
I was sad to get that that called. You know, mis McCaskey died the day before, and I gotta I gotta. I got a text message from Vance Bedford, my old dB coach, and he was the one who informed me that coach Tron had passed away. And yeah, coach coach Heran was a soft spoken, uh defensive genius. I mean he was a bad man back in his day when he played. And I didn't. I didn't know that I was. I was clueless to who he was at first when I got drafted, and Dwayne Joseph was like, wait, you
don't know who coach Ryan Man? You better google his name. He got a nice resume. And because obviously you know, if you know coach Sern, he's not going to brag about himself. He's not gonna talk about himself. So I had to. I had to school myself on who he was. And you know, you can pull up some clips and plays. It was an all Pro maate, you know, made the Pro Bowl like he was nice with it. He was nice with it. And I want dig I'm I can't. I'm in Chicago because of dig Giron. You know that's
that's what I want. Coach Smith, all respect to him, he didn't bring me to Chicago. Coach Giron brought me to Chicago. I only got a chance to play for him for a year, but I'm very grateful that he saw something in me to want, uh, I want the Bears to draft me, to get coach excuse me, general manager ger Angelo to draft me. So I'm extremely grateful for for coach Duran and allowing me to start my career in such a wonderful friendship.
Did you ever ask him what it was that you he signed you?
No, I didn't. I did not. I just remember really for the most part, it was him and Coach Blosh Uh the DC and they just long, linky, tall guy. If I remember Craigically, coach Coach Block said just because they needed a taller corner and I was a tall corner, that I could play safety or I could play corner. Funny thing, what I don't think a lot of people know is I don't think people know I played safety, and when I got drafted, I didn't know if I
was a safety or a corner. And then we were walking in the hallway to my very first dB meeting and I had I was talking to coach John and I was like, I'm sorry, coach, I'm kind of new to this. I don't I know I'm glateful to be here, but I just kind of want to am I am I safety? Or am I a corner? Like I don't, I don't really have a position. I don't I don't
know anything right now. And he goes and it's kind of like his soft spoken voice was like, Eh, we're gonna try out that corner first to see how that goes. And I said okay, and yeah, I never I never looked back once he said I was a corner. I never looked back. I never even thought about failing. I just was like, hey, I'm a corn National Football League, let's make it work.
Charles.
You never had an offensive minded head coach in your professional career?
Did you never all defensive coaches?
Yeah?
I think that kind of probably was to your benefit early in your career. When you're talking to a defensive back about where you best fit, you know, they probably have vision and anticipation of what your skill set is best best for.
Absolutely it was a coach drawn coach Smith And no, I did have I had one offensive coach twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen those two years, George Tressman. Coach Tressman. Okay, yeah, I forgot yeah, yeah, Yeah.
Yeah, for savings the service get more with Geico and a Chicago's hometown team for over one hundred and twenty five years, jewel Osco's grocery game remains strong as they continue to deliver weekly savings on family favorites. You can also count on jewel Osco for hot digital deals, convenient drive up and go services, and more. Final moments here
with Charles Penat Tillman. You're at the Super Bowl. I know it's an award that many players feel is short of the Hall of Fame, is the most honored gift as the Walter Payton Man of the Year, which you were one. You go every Super Bowl probably for a lot of other reasons. But when you walk into whatever sound that is going to be this case, it was New Orleans and you go down meet Radio Row and all that is that still feel wonderful to you that you were that man.
It does because the award of the award has gotten a lot bigger. I talked to Marty Lyons. He played. I don't know if he was a d N or.
Detailed defensive in Terror or defensive Lions?
Tom.
Did you block him?
Did you block Marty Lions?
How'd you fare. I have a little scar on my forearm, my right forearm from we.
Played him December tenth, nineteen eighty five, freezing cold in New York.
I think we beat him ten to nothing.
But he was part of that New York sack exchange.
Yeah.
Absolutely, So he won the Man of the Year. I want to say maybe nineteen eighty eight ish, something like that. But when he won the award, he said it was the Miller LT Award, the Miller Miller Lte Man of the Year. And the cool thing was, he said, once they renamed it after Walster Payton, he contacted the NFL and said, hey, I want to I don't want this award anymore. I want the new one. If we're doing that,
I want I want this new one. I don't want this because it was it wasn't like obviously, it wasn't Walter Payton. It was just like Miller Lite Men of the Year. And it might have been like a guy drinking a bottle or something. I don't know, but he basically just like, I don't want this, I want I want that one. You know, it means it meant a little bit more. And through the years, the Peyton family Jered,
Connie and Brittany. They've done a tremendous job of building up the award and letting people know how much and how important their dad was and how special the Man of the Year award is. And I go every year. You know, there's only been fifty ever given out and mister oh well from my head on, Eric Armstead won it this year and he is so worthy of it.
But just to give a special shout to all the thirty two finalists, it's extremely difficult to pick one person out of thirty two guys that are extremely kind with their time and their energy on their days off. And I salute all thirty two finalists from all thirty two teams. And it's it's just a really good award, man, it's a feel good award. You don't really do the work
to win the award. You do the work just because you just have a kind heart and you want to you know, just whatever your philanthropic mission is, that's kind of what you do. You do it just for you know, you're doing it for the love of why you're doing something. You're doing something because it's special to you, right, So I just I salute and I applaud all the gentlemen that were finalists this year, and it's it's actually a
great award nationwide. Is on a hell of a job of getting the financial means to back up the award, to get the word out, to let people know how important it is to you know, just attach yourself to a charity, but not only that, just to showcase and highlight what NFL players are doing. Too many times we see a player do one bad thing and everyone seems to think that all NFL players are like that, which in fact, that's just one small percentage of what we do.
You got about ninety ninety nine percent of the guys that are doing things right, you just don't see it. And that's kind of what that award and the thirty two nominees, that's what they showcase.
I really do, you know, Charles, It's one award where the nomination could almost mean as much as winning the award itself, because if you're being nominated, you are a special guy inside your franchise organization, in the city you work in, and and even beyond their specific communities. A lot of these guys have outreach programs that have a lot of tentacles.
Yeah, guys are just I got nominated a couple of times and I was like, oh wow, you know, and and it's not to say that no one else is doing anything in their in their on their team. It's just like you said, if you've been nominated more than once, that's huge. Yep, that's that's your team saying no, we
recognize you, we see you. We want to celebrate you and nominate you and put you on an either bigger platform so you can showcase the world and we want the world to know all the amazing thing that you and your foundation are doing. Right, it's not shout out to the teams.
Yeah, it's not a popularity contest in this case and and your buildings. The Bear's nominee here for twenty twenty four. So congratulations to big big Bill on the inside of the Bears defensive line. Pinett, we'd love to talk to you for another hour. And I know it's been a busy time for you, and it's always busy for Charles Peanut Timan hope to see her on hollis Aw soon.
Appreciate you. Oh what do you guys think about Ben Johnson?
Well, I mean, we're very excited, very excited. It's big into an offensive coach.
So what do you feel.
I think to be successful in this league, you have to be a coach who knows how to lead men. And I don't know coach Johnson, but I've heard nothing but great things about him, And if he knows, if he's half as good as what is what I'm hearing, I think the Bearls will be I think they'll be fine. I just really think at the end of the day, you got to know how to lead men, and you got to have men follow you. You got to have those types of guys that are really the one through
a brick wall for you. And some players, excuse me, coaches, they just they have it. I'll call it the IT factor. You know. It's just that one thing they have in their DNA that separates them from all the other coaches. And I've had tons of coaches, head coaches, position coaches, assistant coaches, decoordinators, they just have that d factor. And Coach Smith he was one, coach Rivera, he was one. Steve Wilkes, John Hoak, like those are guys that they don't have to do a lot of yelling and row rob.
They can just tell you something like we're having a conversation and you're just like, oh, okay, yeah, let's do this. Oh Rod Marinelli, he's another one like they can just the way they use their words to elevate you. They build you up, and they're simple words. It's nothing, you know, extraordinary or extravagant. It's just basic, simple verbiage, and you internalize and you believe that and you go out there and you put on the most amazing performance in your career,
you know. So I'm I'm hoping that coach Johnson can find a way to motivate these players. And for the most part, we gotta we just gotta let how to win. You know, I don't I don't think we know how to win. I don't think we know how to compete. And at the end of the day, I know we're professionals and I know what are the highest level. But when you lose for a while and you lose a lot, you kind of forget how to win. You kind of
forget how to compete. And it's starting that foundation and saying, hey, guys, this is our standard whatever, you know, whatever his identity. They have to identify themselves and what they want to you know what their foundation is. Every coach has a every coach has a saying. Right, they come in, they repaint, they paint everything on the wall, holes, they have their saying, and you know, whatever coach Johnson's saying is, he has to believe it. But more importantly, the team, they have
to believe. You got to get fifty three guys believing in you and what you're selling. And once you get that, man, it's scary, it's powerful, it's dangerous. I literally look at Detroit and what they what coach Campbell was able to do, he said it time and I'm again and he started, Hey, we're building something. I won't lie to you. We got to go through this. We're almost there. And they were close to winning games and they would lose them. They didn't know how to compete all the way or they
didn't quite know how to deal with the adversity. And within three years they're in an NFC championship. So I'm hoping coach Johnson can do exactly the same thing. Come in, start at the ground level, set the standard. The standard is the standard, and it doesn't change. This is how we play, This is what it means to be a Chicago bear. If you want to be a part of this team, in this organization, get on board. If not, see you later. We can get somebody else to come in.
And yeah, man, let's let's let's get this thing rolling. I'm excited for the players, the new coaches, the team, the city, the organization. There's something about when you get a new coach, it just kind of breeds like a like a new life or rebirth, into the into the into the town. So I'm excited. We got a good quarterback. We can get this offense jumping and roll, and excited about this defense. We retained hot towers are supposed to teams coach, so you know he doing this thing out there.
So yeah, man, offense, defense, sposed teams. I'm extremely fired up. Can't wait to meet the coach. You know, I'll whenever I get the invite or whatever, I'll all come up there. We'll talk with a football tell him how you know how great this defense is. I don't care who the head coach is. Defense always gonna dominate always.
See that's been that was instilled in him a long time ago. Tommy, just hey, that's just what it is. It's sweat.
I don't care who you bring in, I don't care who you Andy Reid, hey, Bill Bellach or not Bill Budh And you bring Andy Reid in, Hey, we got a great offense, and so we're still gonna kick your butt on defense. Coach, Like, that's just that's just the attitude you got to have. Like, I don't care who you I'm picking you off, Caleb, That's just that's just the attitude you have on defense, especially in Chicago.
Tommy, final thought, you said it all.
You can't talk that.
I'm not gonna follow that up because i may have a different sort of opinion because I'm from the other side of the ball. But listen, man, I love I love Charles Tillman, and I love listening to Charles Tillman.
Appreciate it, Charles, thank you so much.
Thanks guys, appreciate it.
Thank you, buddy. You'd be good. We'd love it.
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