The Eagles have weaponized Charles Tillman’s ‘Peanut Punch’ all the way to the Super Bowl

NEW ORLEANS — Charles Tillman’s kids were too young to appreciate his NFL career when he played cornerback for the Bears from 2003-14.

But they’re reminded of his greatness almost Sunday during the football season when an NFL defender forces a fumble with the move he invented: The Peanut Punch.

“They look at me, or I’d look at them, when an announcer or broadcaster would say my name,” Tillman said Friday from radio row at the Super Bowl. “I kinda chuckle because my kids really didn’t get to experience it. They were a little younger. Now that they’re teenagers and one’s an adult, They get to see that now.

“’I told you I was pretty good.’ Now they see it and hear it. They think it’s cool and I get to see them experience it.”

In college at Louisiana-Lafayette, about a two-hand-a-half hour drive from New Orleans, Tillman would purposely take a bad tackling angle so he could punch at the football while chasing down a ball-carrier. With the Bears, he mastered how to do it while tackling straight-on.

The Eagles weaponized the Peanut Punch all the way to the Super Bowl.

They have recovered six fumbles in three postseason games — three of them in their NFC title game win against the Commanders. Linebacker Zack Baun’s inadvertent gem against the Commanders should have counted as two fumbles — he tried to punch at the ball Dyami Brown was carrying with his right fist but mistakenly hit teammate Cooper DeJean’s right hand. DeJean’s fist rocketed into the football, forcing a fumble the Eagles covered.

The Eagles have more fumble recoveries than any other team in the playoffs has total takeaways.

“Hopefully they can get a couple more,” Tillman said. “It’ll get ‘em a ring.”

They’ve used Tillman, whose 44 forced fumbles are tied for the sixth-most in NFL history, as inspiration all year. A banner in the front of the Eagles meeting room lists eight steps to taking the ball away. In the bottom left-hand corner are the words “Peanut Punch.”

Earlier this year, head coach Nick Sirianni had Patrick Nolan, the Eagles’ vice president of football technology, put together clips of every single forced fumble of Tillman’s career. He put it on a loop for his coaches, and later his players, during the season.

“We emphasize the crap out of it,” Sirianni said, “because we know it’s such a telling stat in this game.”

The Eagles forced 22 fumbles during the regular season, tied for the most in the NFL. They recovered 13 of them, which was tied with the Bears for the third-most. Forcing fumbles could be the Eagles’ secret to staying ahead of a Chiefs team that has won a league-best 17 one-score games in a row.

There was a time when defensive coordinator Vic Fangio blitzed as much as anyone in the league. His Eagles bring an extra rusher only 19% of the time this year, the fifth-smallest percentage in football.

“You have to adjust to your players,” he said.

The Eagles instead rush four linemen and try to rely on trying to get turnovers.

There’s a risk, though, to doing it right.

“The players being able to go out there and to do it is incredible because you’re taking chances at times …” Sirianni said. “I think sometimes you see in those scenarios teams take chances there but they don’t make tackles.”

Amazingly, the Eagles haven’t reached out to Tillman, who spent Super Bowl week hosting his “NFL Players: Second Acts” podcast with Roman Harper. He’s OK with that.

“They had a very distinct goal, and that was to take the ball away. They did that. …” said Tillman, who still lives in suburban Chicago. “I take it as a badge. Truly, I’m honored that they think the move could help them that much. Clearly it did. I take it as a sign of respect.”

Tillman’s signature move has outlived the career of the player most associated with it. That gives him not only his own place in NFL culture, but it makes him a rarity in the history of American sports. High-jumper Dick Fosbury invented the Fosbury Flop. Tommy John was the guinea pig for elbow-saving surgery. Mario Mendoza hit .215, yet falling below the Mendoza Line became synonymous with players who hit below .200. Hack-a-Shaq remained in the NBA lexicon long after Shaquille O’Neal and his bricked free throws left the league. Former basketball player God Shammgod’s crossover move, called the Shammgod, is an NBA parallel, but it’s nowhere near as popular as Peanut’s punch.

The former Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner hopes that he’s known for more than just what he did during his playing career. But when it comes to his contribution to the NFL, he has no doubt what he’s remembered for.

Announcers remind him — and his kids — every Sunday.

“My legacy on the field,” he said, “is, clearly, the Peanut Punch.”