NFL Player Charles Tillman Wrote A Book That Teaches Valuable Lessons For Kids
By Alex Flanagan
NFL player Charles Tillman wrote a book that teaches valuable lessons for kids. NFL player Charles Tillman’s book for kids teaches valuable lessons. Panthers cornerback Charles Tillman knows what it’s like to be racially profiled. It first happened to him and a group of friends in California when he was in middle school. Long before Giants defensive end, Jason Pierre Paul lost part of a finger in a fireworks accident, Tillman learned his own valuable lesson about the consequences of playing with explosives. The two-time Pro Bowler hopes to share some of these experiences that defined his upbringing and might help other pre-teens navigate their own challenges.
The 13-year NFL veteran’s real-life childhood stories are the focus of author Sean Jensen’s second installation of The Middle School Rules book series (The first was about Brian Urlacher
It’s an open and authentic book filled with relatable life lessons for young readers. The Middle School Rules of Charles “Peanut” Tillman
One of my favorite ways of relating to my son is reading sports books with him. Most of the books we find at the library, though, are filled with statistics and are written in an adult tone. It doesn’t bother Declan since he loves quizzing me on the top 10 wide receivers, top 10 greatest rushers of all time, or the history of whatever NFL team he’s reading about that week, but this is one of the first sportsbooks we have read that actually seemed to speak directly to him.
While this is a book about a famous sports figure, it’s not really at all a book about sports, but instead about the challenges young people encounter growing up. “I had to make mistakes in order to become smarter, get better, and be a better person,” says Tillman. “It was because of all those dumb things I did as a kid that kind of helped shape and form who I am today.”
One of the best parts about The Middle School Rules of Charles “Peanut” Tillman
He’s not, of course. The 2013 NFL Man of the Year is one of the best corners in the NFL, both on and off the field. This season Tillman is bringing veteran leadership to the unbeaten Carolina Panthers.
Once an undersized Army brat, Tillman was nick-named Peanut at birth by his aunt because of the slight point at the top of his head. He didn’t mind “Peanut,” but didn’t much like being called “little,” even though it taught him one of his many important life rules, which are listed throughout the book: Regardless of your size, play with heart.
When I spoke to Tillman this week, he told me that when he and Jensen began working on the book, he was surprised at how much of his childhood he remembered. Recalling his run-in with the police was easy, but as he often has done in life, Peanut turned a negative into a positive. “Hopefully, situations like that can help other kids of color say, ‘wow, I thought I was the only one that got profiled. Oh no, Charles Tillman got profiled too, and he had a positive approach and a positive attitude about it,’” Tillman says. “I love cops to this day. I don’t think that put a sour taste in my mouth about our law enforcement officers. Hell, I got a degree in criminal justice.”
As Jensen writes in The Middle School Rules of Charles “Peanut” Tillman
- Stand up for your family;
- Don’t be afraid to try something new;
- The best player plays no matter how old he is;
- If you see someone being bullied or mistreated, then you should step in and stop it;
- Your decisions impact others;
- Don’t be afraid to make history;
- It’s okay for a man to cry;
- All choices – good and bad – matter
I used the rules we read each night as a way to start a dialogue with my own kids about many of the book’s life lessons. Initiating those conversation was much easier using Peanut’s stories as a springboard. So much so that my son actually kept wanting to hear more! Now we can’t wait to see who will be featured in Jensen’s third middle school rules book! Buy the book here.
