It’s been a long time since the Chicago Bears fielded a truly good team. While 2018 was a fun year, most remember the teams from 2005 to 2010 as the last truly great era of Chicago football. Those were rosters filled with a ton of great talent. Not to mention teammates that loved each other. Even to this day that admiration shines through. Even on national television courtesy of Greg Olsen.
The former Bears tight end was part of the broadcast team calling the big AFC showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots on Saturday Night Football. It came in the 3rd quarter. With the Patriots trailing 20-0, running back Rhamondre Stevenson took a handoff up the middle. He was met by Colts linebacker Darius Leonard who promptly punched the ball out. An excited Olsen immediately gave a shoutout to old teammate Charles Tillman.
Somebody Leonard has modeled his game after.
This is true. The Peanut Punch has become a mainstay of defensive football in the NFL over the past decade. Tillman is the man directly responsible for that. He changed the game. This is why many people believe he should get into the Hall of Fame. The man was one of the best corners in the NFL for most of the 2000s and early 2010s. Opponents feared him whenever they played the Bears. Peanut had a response for Olsen’s shoutout too.
🥜🥊 #PeanutPunch https://t.co/bHbTtmCi62 pic.twitter.com/EcPKTOO2j5
— Charles Tillman (@peanuttillman) December 19, 2021
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Greg Olsen made sure to remind everybody of how great Tillman was. Not to mention how influential. Defensive backs did focus on the ball nearly as much when making tackles before his arrival in the league. When teams saw when the Bears star was doing almost every week? They started coaching guys to do the same. It’s rather shocked Bears defenders don’t do it as often as they should. If an organization should’ve carried on the tradition, it’s Chicago.
