University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Charles Tillman Inducted Into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
9/19/2019 9:43:00 AM | Football
Tillman won the 2013 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award - the league’s only award that recognizes excellence on and off the field
NATCHITOCHES - Former Louisiana Football and Chicago Bears standout Charles "Peanut" Tillman is among a star-studded group of eight 2020 competitive ballot inductees chosen for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
The LSHOF Class of 2020 Induction Celebration will kick off Thursday, June 25, 2020, with a press conference and reception. The three-day festivities include two receptions, a free youth sports clinic, a bowling party, and a Friday night riverbank concert in Natchitoches. Tickets for the Induction Dinner and Ceremony, along with congratulatory advertising and sponsorship opportunities, will be available early in 2020 through the LaSportsHall.com website.
Following four seasons (1999-2002) starting at cornerback for the Ragin' Cajuns, Tillman was a second-round NFL Draft pick who played 13 seasons before injuries forced him to retire at the age of 34. He started all but four of his 168 NFL games and had 38 career interceptions for 675 yards, taking eight of those picks back for touchdowns.
The 35th overall selection in the 2003 draft had at least three interceptions in nine of his 13 seasons. The 6-foot-1, 196-pounder finished his career with 911 total tackles, notching a career-high 99 in 2011 when he was voted to play in the first of two consecutive Pro Bowls. He also forced 44 fumbles with 10 of them coming in 2012 when he was named an Associated Press first-team All-Pro. In 2003, he set the NFL single-game record by forcing four fumbles against Tennessee on his way to being the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and the Sports Illustrated Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Tillman, who broke up 141 passes in his career, had 16 in 2011 — one fewer than his personal-best of 17 that he had in 2008.
His Bears won the NFC title over the Saints in 2006 and played in Super Bowl XLI against 2019 LSHOF inductee Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts but lost 29-17.
Tillman won the 2013 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award — the league's only award that recognizes excellence on and off the field with an emphasis on a player's contributions to his community and to society in general.
In college, he was a four-year starter who had 12 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries, three blocked punts and 284 tackles in a career that made him the eighth Ragin' Cajun to have his jersey retired. A criminal justice graduate at the University, he is now an FBI agent.
Adding to the 350 sports competitors currently enshrined, 19 winners of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership award and 64 recipients of the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, there are 433 current members of the Hall of Fame before next summer's inductions.
The 2020 Induction Celebration weekend will be hosted by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, the support organization for the Hall of Fame. The LSHOF Foundation was established as a 501 c 3 non-profit entity in 1975 and is governed by a statewide board of directors. For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Foundation President/CEO Ronnie Rantz at 225-802-6040 or RonnieRantz@LaSportsHall.com. Standard and customized sponsorships are available.
CONTACT – Doug Ireland, 318-288-6388, DougIreland@LaSportsHall.com
