Having retired from the NFL in July 2016, former Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman is working toward joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs reported Tuesday.      

Special agent Garrett Croon, the spokesperson for the FBI's Chicago bureau, declined to confirm whether Tillman is training with the FBI, saying the bureau "[doesn't] speak about personnel matters."

Tillman spent his first 12 years in the NFL with the Bears before playing for the Carolina Panthers in 2015.

Greg Gabriel, who worked as the Bears' director of college scouting for nine years until April 2010, commented on Tillman's reported career change:

So glad to hear @peanuttillman is in training to become an FBI agent. The FBI couldn't find a better perspective agent. Congrats to peanut

— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) September 19, 2017

Biggs wrote Tillman graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and his father, Donald Tillman Jr., was a sergeant in the United States Army.

In a July 2016 interview with Willie Griswold of Make It Better magazine, Tillman said he had a "deep deep passion for the military," noting his uncle was in the Army for 30 years and his mother-in-law is a Marine.

"So I'm all about our military and supporting our men and women in uniform," he said. "[I'm also interested in] helping police officers and law enforcement, I'm big into that. A lot of my friends are law enforcement officers, and [I like to] support them as well."

According to the FBI's website, special agent training lasts roughly 20 weeks, and prospective agents receive over 800 hours of coursework in "academics, case exercises, firearms training and operational skills."