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Ben Cleveland
Last Saturday, Stephens County graduate and former Georgia Bulldog football player Ben Cleveland could be found on a farm in Milledgeville.
Cleveland and his family, along with some friends, decided to gather at his friend’s farm to watch the NFL draft with hopes of Cleveland being selected by one of the league’s 30 teams. A phone rang. It was the Baltimore Ravens on the other end informing Cleveland that he had been selected in the third round.
“It felt like a weight off my shoulders, kind of realizing the dreams playing in the NFL are starting to come true,” Cleveland said. “That was a little bit of a relief. It almost did not feel real. It was one of those things you get so caught up in the moment, you really don’t remember how you are feeling, but being there with my family when it all happened was awesome.”
Cleveland was drafted as the 94th pick overall in the third round, the highest a Stephens County product has been chosen in the NFL draft since Pat Swilling in 1986 who also went in the third round. Cleveland hugged his mom and embraced loved ones in attendance. He is the son of Derek and Andrea Cleveland of Toccoa and the younger brother of Ryan Cleveland who had a solid baseball career at Georgia Southern. Cleveland did not really believe that he could be an NFL football player. When Cleveland was in high school, he eventually realized there was a chance.
“I did not really know whenever I was younger. We really did not think about college or life after college too much,” Cleveland said. “It did not really set in until later in high school when I started realizing I could make a career out of this,” he said.
Cleveland did make a career out of it. In high school, Cleveland became an All-American then went off to UGA and became an All-American again at the collegiate level. Now Cleveland will continue his football career at the professional level and will be on the Ravens’ payroll.
“I think they fit what I did here for the last five years in Georgia. I think I will definitely fit in their offense,” Cleveland said.
He said he doesn’t know too much about Baltimore, but he has heard they have good seafood. The former Bulldog said trying that seafood is on the checklist things to do when he drives up to Baltimore in the near future.
“I heard it is the best seafood in the United States, so we’re going to give it a try whenever we get there,” Cleveland said.
Now Cleveland is one of the select few from SCHS to make it to the NFL. The former SCHS star is one of the highest NFL draft picks coming out of SCHS. Five-time Pro Bowler SCHS grad Pat Swilling and Cleveland share a few things in common. One thing that they share is that both are third round picks.
“There is not a lot of people that make it to this point out of Stephens County. It definitely is a really cool feeling to be in that category with such a few players,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland is proud of his accomplishment and feels like it is deserved. Cleveland also takes pride in making his hometown proud.
“It definitely feels good,” Cleveland said. “That community has given so much to me. So you know it makes me feel like everything in the last 20 years in that town was worth it.”
Cleveland said he’s looking forward to the next part of his football career and wants to work his way into the starting rotation of Baltimore’s roster. Cleveland has some words of encouragement for current Indians.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it,” Cleveland said. “If you really want to do something, regardless what it is, just don’t let anything get in your way and distract you. Do everything in your power to go out and achieve your goals.”
Cleveland said it was a long journey for him to get to this point in his career, but he has enjoyed the ride that featured some glorious moments. His favorite Bulldog moment was when he played in the granddaddy of them all and won the Rose Bowl 54-48 against Oklahoma in double overtime.As an Indian, one of his favorite moments came when he scored a touchdown against Chestatee his junior year.
At SCHS Cleveland played a little bit of defensive line. In that game against Chestatee, Cleveland scored on a 25-yard fumble return in a 55-27 win over the War Eagles. More big moments may be in store for Cleveland in Baltimore.