Bears cornerback Charles Tillman was recently in a Chicago running store to promote his charitable foundation when a math problem was handed to him that he did not particularly care for. It was not the numbers that bothered Tillman, but instead the scenario that was presented by this particular math teacher. According to a detailed outline of a story on Reddit that Deadspin broke down for us, a teenaged girl whose father owned the running store approached Tillman to show him a math problem that read as follows:
“The Packers play the Bears 4 times in two seasons. The Packers, being a much better team have an 80% chance of winning each game. What is the probability that the Bears win all four games? What is the probability that the Bears win at least one game?”
The problem was reportedly assigned by John Amrein of Round Lake Middle School, and Tillman was happy to give the young girl an autograph but couldn’t resist putting the teacher in his place. He responded with the following (which is shown in the image above on the right):
Mr. Amrein,
This is Charles “Peanut” Tillman of the Chicago Bears and I’m shocked that you would have a problem like this for your students. The probability that the Bears would win in my opinion is 100%. Please do not and I repeat DO NOT send them home with math homework that is disrespectful to our team, city and our beloved Chicago Bears.
Your All Pro Corner
Charles “Peanut” Tillman
33
Geaux BearsP.S. Bear Down
After handing the problem in to her teacher, the girl reported that Amrein found it hilarious. Either Tillman has a tremendously dry sense of humor, or the word problem actually made him angry. If I remember correctly, middle school and high school teachers just jotted down anything that came to mind when they put these word problems together. If I got hung up focusing on how stupid some of the problems were on my exams, I never would have finished in time. In the future, I bet Amrein presents the Bears in a much different light.
Photo credit: Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE
