Greg Cleveland played on the offensive and defensive lines during his UF career. (File photo)
Carter's Corner: Remembering Greg Cleveland
Friday, March 1, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
Share:
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two weeks ago Saturday, they gathered at the Winter Park Community Center to celebrate the life of Gregory Leon Cleveland.
As a kid, Cleveland spent a lot of afternoons there.
Dr. Roger Dearing, who retired in 2017 as executive director of the Florida High School Activities Association, coached Cleveland as a seventh-grader at Winter Park Junior High School.
"Greg was a big kid even then,'' Dearing said Friday. "He could take on two blockers at the same time and beat them every time."
Perhaps the name doesn't register since Cleveland's era has long passed. It certainly did at Orlando Edgewater High School in the early 1980s, where Cleveland starred as a man-child for the Eagles before signing with the Gators in 1982. The same year Cleveland arrived at UF was the year I moved to Florida.
In fact, on the very day my mom, younger brother and I drove with our belongings from East Tennessee to our new home in Orlando with the help of family members – the first time I had ever been to Florida is when we crossed the state line on Interstate 75 – Cleveland and his UF teammates were on Florida Field.
They beat Auburn that day, 19-17, a Halloween victory courtesy of Jim Gainey's 42-yard field goal with a second left on the clock. Greg Cleveland at Florida. (File photo)
A few years later as I roamed the halls of Edgewater, my introduction to the Gators having turned into an allegiance, Cleveland's name would surface from time to time. He was long gone from the campus on Edgewater Drive, as was the school's winning football team. Still, even after a peculiar career at Florida and a stint with the Orlando Renegades of the USFL, the talented Cleveland got an opportunity to play in the NFL in the fall of 1987 with Miami.
He played in two games as a replacement player for the Dolphins during the NFL's 24-day strike, and afterward, Cleveland slowly faded from the game's spotlight.
Soon, he took a different kind of journey, moving to London for several years as an entrepreneur in a waste management company and later settling in Jamaica, returning from time to time to Central Florida.
Cleveland joined a Gators football program on the rise as a freshman and played regularly behind starter Dan Fike on the offensive line. At 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, Cleveland came equipped with the kind of size and strength that made him a formidable presence on either side of the line.
He moved to defensive tackle as a sophomore and in a 28-3 season-opening victory over Miami at Florida Field, Cleveland pounced on Hurricanes quarterback Bernie Kosar for a sack and 15-yard loss. He teamed with fellow defensive linemen Roy Harris and Tim Newton to form what they called the Orange County Crush. All three grew up in the Orlando area and found their way to UF.
Based on newspapers accounts from Cleveland's time with the Gators, he was a free spirit, liked by teammates but lacking discipline and prone to stints in head coach Charley Pell's doghouse. He was overweight by the start of his junior season in '84 and Pell suspended him. When he was cleared to return later in the season after Galen Hall replaced Pell, Cleveland said no thanks and sat out the rest of the season.
When the 1985 season opened, Cleveland was moved back to the offensive line to help replace Lomas Brown, Detroit's first-round pick and to this day some say the greatest offensive lineman in Gators history.
Cleveland was not overwhelmed by the assignment.
"I believe in myself. I believe I can be just as good as Lomas was,'' he told reporters. "I know that's a lofty goal, but I'm setting my sights there. I saw the kind of money he signed for. That's another reason."
Cleveland played in the first three games as senior but suffered a left knee injury at Mississippi State that required surgery.
Hall considered Cleveland's absence significant.
"The loss of Greg Cleveland is really going to hurt," Hall said at time. "Our line is already inexperienced."
Rather than pursue a redshirt, which was an option that was recommended, Cleveland opted to leave school and try to earn a living in professional football. He told the media he was tired of relying on his parents and ready to make it on his own.
Cleveland's time in professional football was short-lived and he pursued other interests, later running Youth Chamber of Commerce organizations aimed to help young people stay on the right path through athletics and healthy habits.
As news spread on social media recently of his death from a heart attack while in a Jamaican hospital -- Cleveland was being treated for a blood clot -- those who knew Cleveland expressed sadness at the loss.
"Greg was my roommate as well as my freshman brother,'' former Gators linebacker Leon Pennington said on Facebook. "Always had nothing but positive energy. I will always love him like a brother. RIP MY FRIEND. You will be missed."
Dearing spoke at Cleveland's memorial service and had remained in contact over the years, including a return by Cleveland to Florida to attend Dearing's retirement party.
"He had a great sense of humor,'' Dearing said. "It was not a sad event at all. He was very fun-loving, always had a smile. As big as Greg was, he had a bigger heart."
Born Aug. 19, 1963, Cleveland was 55 years old at the time his heart gave out Jan. 8.
