The NFL's original boxer was Charles "Peanut" Tillman. His heir is Marlon Humphrey.
Given the nickname "Peanut" by his aunt because he was shaped like a peanut as a baby, Tillman grew up to be a 6-foot-2 cornerback who gave birth to the "Peanut Punch".
Tillman logged a staggering 44 forced fumbles over his 12 seasons with the Chicago Bears and one with the Carolina Panthers. He has the same amount of forced fumbles as two of the best defenders currently in the game, J.J. Watt and Khalil Mack, combined.
Now Tillman sees another puncher coming up the ranks in Humphrey, and he's a fan.
Humphrey has now forced four fumbles in six games this season, including one in each of the past three contests. Two of Humphrey's punch-outs this season were returned for touchdowns.
Humphrey's latest, when he swung a big right-handed uppercut from behind to pop the ball out of Eagles wide receiver Greg Ward's right arm, barely rolled out of bounds before the Ravens could recover.
While this forced fumble didn't have as much of an impact on the game, Tillman still took notice.
CBS Sports' Evan Washburn spoke to Humphrey and Tillman about the punch-outs. Humphrey said he's started watching old highlights of Tillman, commenting that "he's so smooth with it."
From his home in the Chicago suburbs, Tillman said Humphrey is the closest he's seen to himself.
"Guys will go for the ball, but he looks like a boxer out there," Tillman told Washburn. "It's a calculated punch. You know where to strike."
Just like Humphrey has been watching tape of Tillman, Humphrey's teammates are watching film of him. Safety DeShon Elliott, who had two forced fumbles in Philadelphia, said he spent an hour-and-a-half Saturday night watching Humphrey tape from the past two seasons.
"Trying to see how he was getting the ball out, and it showed today," Elliott said.
Humphrey has seven forced fumbles so far in his four-year career. Tillman had eight in his first four seasons. While Humphrey has a long way to go, at least he's getting a nickname for his move too.
The "Fruit Punch" is also a play off the nickname Humphrey was given as a child, which Humphrey tried to unsuccessfully use as his Twitter account name. They wouldn't verify (give him the blue check) him with that as his name, but maybe they would reconsider after a few more forced fumbles?
