Bears' Tillman to Tackle Waiter's Duties for Charity

Bears cornerback Charles Tillman knows how to handle a football. Handling a plate of steak is a different matter.

“You don't have to be gentle with a football,” he said of the difference.

Tillman will be putting his skills to the test Oct. 17 when he and eight other Bears players wait tables at  in Northbrook. The four-course dinner includes an appetizer reception and a silent auction to benefit The Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation.

The charity provides DVD players and portable computers and game systems to chronically and critically ill children at Chicago-area hospitals to help them pass the time. It also offers special activities for the children and their families, including Bears tickets and tours of Soldier Field.

“It's a way of giving back to the community,” Tillman said. “This is one of my bigger fundraisers that we're doing and it's for a great cause.”

Morton’s was the host of a similar benefit for the Cornerstone Foundation last year, when the event was held at the restaurant's East Wacker Place location in downtown Chicago.

“We had such a blast last year,” Tillman said. “It was a success, so [doing it again] was kind of a no-brainer.”

The restaurant’s veteran servers work side by side with the football players, and Tillman said they taught him how to best hold glasses and plates to provide efficient service during the dinner.

“I took two plates and they said, ‘You can take six plates. You'll be here all day if you take them two at a time,’ ” Tillman said. “I try it at home, but I break every damn dish. At home there's no pressure; it's just you break it, you buy it. Here there's food.”

Diners will have the chance to get their pictures taken with the players, get their menus signed and chat with the players during the silent auction and the appetizer reception, where players will also be serving wine.

“You can't talk too much during dinner because you're serving everybody else,” Tillman said. “It's just like, ‘Hey, thanks for coming, I've got to get these plates.’ But once everyone's fed, there's plenty of time to talk.”

Tillman will be joined by fellow Bears players Anthony Adams, Lance Briggs, Matt Forte, Frank Omiyale, Patrick Mannelly, Matt Toeaina, Caleb Hanie and Craig Steltz.

The NFL veteran, who is in his ninth year playing football, said he was still working on recruiting more teammates.

“You've got to feel guys’ schedules,” he said. “It is during [the] season. A guy can commit now, and injuries occur and they can have to cancel [at the] last minute. I'm always asking, removing, adding. We're difficult guys to work with.”

By the end of 2011, Tillman will have participated in seven events for his organization and about eight others put on by his friends and teammates. With his busy schedule of practices and strategy reviews that include hours of watching other teams play on video, he said his wife, Jackie, and other Cornerstone Foundation staff members do most of the work to plan the events.

“I do most of the interviews, the face time, but they do a lot of the work behind the scene that they don't get credit for,” Tillman said. “I'm kind of like Oprah. She just showed up and made things work. I'm not saying I'm as good as Oprah, but she had a good staff and that's what made her best in the business.”

Tickets to Morton’s Celebrity Servers Dinner with Tillman are $250 and about half of them have already been sold. To make a reservation, call 847-205-5111.