Former Bear Charles Tillman Will Jump Out Of A Plane For Your Entertainment

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 4, 2016 4:24PM

Charles Tillman (right) / Courtesy of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

Recently, when we receive press statements from the city of Chicago, they’ve been about fun stuff like new utility taxes and anti-Zika pesticide sprayings. So we naturally did a double take when this urgent bit of news arrived from the city: former Bears great Charles Tillman will be jumping out of an airplane for our viewing pleasure.

It’s all part of the annual Chicago Air and Water Show, you probably won’t be surprised to learn. The retired fan-favorite cornerback will kick off the spectacle by tandem jumping with the U.S. Army Golden Knights on Saturday, Aug. 20. The jump is to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the USO, according to the press release. (Tillman has long been celebrated in Chicago for his charitable outreach.)

The Air and Water Show has always been a curious beast, a highly commercialized display of military might with overtones of nationalism. So it makes a weird kind of sense that a former star of the nation’s new pastime, diving from an aircraft, would read as tribute there. At the very least, it might impress the Sideshow Bobs of the crowd.