Senior receiver Tyrie Cleveland participates in a community service event at Metcalf Elementary School. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)
Gators Receiver Tyrie Cleveland's Other Side
Saturday, December 28, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
MIAMI – There's a side to Tyrie Cleveland that many have not seen. It shines brightest when he has discarded his helmet, removed his No. 89 Gators jersey and is surrounded by kids.
"I've always had a heart just to give back and put smiles on kids' faces,'' Cleveland said.
In some ways, Cleveland is living out the final pages of his own youthful chapter this week as the Gators mix work and pleasure in preparation for Monday night's Capital One Orange Bowl against Virginia. A Florida mainstay the past four seasons, Cleveland's college career is down to its 46th and final game.
He is not fading away detached from the moment. Cleveland is noticeably enjoying the bowl trip, from cutting up with teammates in the first row of a team meeting Christmas night when the Gators reported here to their downtown hotel, to a Friday outing at a local Dave & Buster's.
The image of Cleveland most Florida fans recall first is the player buried underneath a pile of teammates after his game-winning catch on the final play to beat Tennessee in 2017. Another one that flashes to the forefront is the 98-yard catch-and-run score he made at LSU as a freshman, helping the Gators clinch the SEC East title. Finally, there's the player streaking down the field on special teams to make a play, a role Cleveland embraced when others might have scoffed.
"He shows the young guys a great example of what they need to be when they grow up,'' teammate Marco Wilson said Saturday.
Tyrie Cleveland watches as a Metcalfe Elementary School student opens a gift at a Gator Tracks event earlier this month. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)
However, the side of Cleveland those at Finley Elementary School in Gainesville know best has nothing to do with anything he has done on the field. The teachers and students there know he plays for the Gators, of course, but when he started to show up over and over to mentor a class, they really got to know him.
Soon, it became less and less of an event when Cleveland arrived and just part of another day at school. He wanted to be there and they appreciated knowing it was real.
"All their staff knew Tyrie when he would check in,'' said Valerie Flournoy, a student development coordinator in the Otis Hawkins Center, which serves as the academic hub for UF's student-athletes. "It's something that he really enjoys. My job is to make sure I'm connecting them to things they like doing and he has made it really easy."
Cleveland's journey from hot-shot recruit – he was ranked the No. 2 prep receiver in the country coming out of Westfield High in Houston – to Florida's most active player in the community didn't come without an early misstep. Shortly after arriving on campus in the summer of 2016, Cleveland and teammate Rick Wells faced felony charges involved a BB gun at a campus dorm.
Suddenly, Cleveland was known by a much larger audience than just the one that follows recruiting. The story generated countless headlines during the slow summer months and security footage of the incident provided fodder for SEC rivals.
Instead of letting the moment define him, Cleveland grew from it. He was Florida's representative on the SEC Football Community Service Team earlier this month and spoke of his college journey following Florida's win over Florida State in his final home game.
"Where I come from a lot of people didn't make it out and just being able just to, over the past four years, just live out my dream, play for my favorite team growing up, it's a blessing,'' Cleveland said.
Cleveland was born in Jacksonville but moved to Texas when he was in eighth grade when his mother decided to relocate the family due to violence in their neighborhood. When Cleveland was 13 his older brother, Timmie Johnson, was murdered.
Through the turbulence and heartache, Cleveland found a home on the football field. He also discovered an escape.
"I've seen some things I wouldn't want any little kid to see,'' he said.
When the game opened previously closed doors and led Cleveland back to Florida to play for the Gators, he knew he wanted to somehow try to reach young kids in the same shoes he once wore. He wasn't sure how to make it happen.
That's when people like Flournoy at the Hawkins Center showed him the way. One event led to another, and soon, Cleveland found a way to make a difference other than between the lines.
In his time at UF, Cleveland has volunteered with more than 10 different community service organizations including the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, Saint Francis House and at Tim Tebow's Night to Shine event. He relishes his time at local elementary schools and the opportunity to help kids most.
Tyrie Cleveland, front center, leads Florida's receivers with 1,220 career yards at UF entering Monday's Orange Bowl against Virginia. (Photo: Courtesy of the Orange Bowl)
"It's something I've grown into,'' he said. "When I first did it, I wouldn't say I was nervous, but I didn't know how to present myself to them. But as I started doing it more and more, I got very comfortable and just started being myself, not trying to be anybody else.
"You never know what a kid is going through at home and to be able to put a smile on a kid's face and see him laugh, there's something about that. I'm going to continue to give back and continue to look out for the younger kids."
At a recent Gator Tracks stop at Gainesville's Metcalfe Elementary School – the program provides shoes to underprivileged kids in Alachua County – Cleveland was part of a UF contingent that delivered more than 30 pairs of gift-wrapped shoes prior to Christmas.
Tall, lean, muscular and tattooed, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Cleveland towered over the students as they entered Metcalfe's media center and took a seat. When it was his turn to hand over gifts to a young boy and girl, Cleveland beamed.
"Bringing him into a school is bigger than what he thinks it is,'' Flournoy said. "Having someone with tattoos and dreads and someone who has made a pretty public mistake, and to be somebody who has not dwelled on that, but to go out and make a difference, it's really important. Tyrie doesn't do it because he wants to be someone he's not. It's really Tyrie being Tyrie when he is in the classroom."
Once Cleveland and others finished handing out shoes, Metcalfe principal Jacquatte Rolle offered her appreciation.
"This fulfills a need for our students,'' she said.
The group had other stops to make that day. As others stuffed into a waiting van, Cleveland was asked why it was so important to give away his free time.
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