The power of squirrel fuels day for Cleveland
After Ben Cleveland’s performance in the 40-yard dash Wednesday at Georgia’s Pro Day, NFL speed coaches might start introducing their players to a steady diet of squirrel.
Well known for his love of the great outdoors, the former Bulldog offensive lineman told reporters on Zoom that a change in diet, which apparently included eating more squirrel, helped prepare him for the event.
It certainly didn't hurt his speed.
Cleveland, who weighed in at 347 pounds, wowed scouts and those watching on the SEC Network by posting an impressive 4.97 in the 40-yard dash.
“A squirrel diet definitely helped cut a little weight this offseason, so yeah, we put a really good time on that,” Cleveland said. “No complaints with that.”
There were also no complaints about “only” repping 225 pounds on the bench press, making only 30 after many predicted he'd do 50, which would have broken the Combine record of 49.
“Everybody had high expectations for the bench press, and obviously I didn’t hit that goal. But the ones talking about it are the same ones who haven’t been in a weight room,” Cleveland said. “It’s tough, but I can only do what I can do. That’s all I can ask out of myself, to show up and perform my best every day. It is what it is. It’s tough sometimes having those high expectations, but in the end, I didn’t let myself or my family down. I’m fine with what I did.”
Head coach Kirby Smart did not believe Cleveland hurt himself in any way, shape, or form.
Quite the contrary.
According to Smart, some team is going to be very, very happy to have the big man from Toccoa, because he’ll bring something to the offensive line that you cannot coach: size.
“Big Ben, they’re getting the man, the myth, the legend himself. Ben Cleveland is first of all a great person, just like the rest of these guys. But he’s a guy I’ve known since 9th grade,” Smart said. “He’s got a tremendous family, he’s played a lot of football here, he’s practiced a lot of football here, and he’s been around here a long time.
“Anybody who picks Ben—it’s just hard to find size. It’s hard to find the criteria for size, and he meets all that criteria. He’s hard to move and get around. It’s a passing league, and when he pass-pros, he’s a hard man to get past and does a great job of that. So, I’m excited to see what he does.”
Cleveland finished the day happy with what he was able to accomplish.
After twisting his ankle early in the week of Senior Bowl practice, Cleveland was unable to perform in front of scouts as much as he would have liked. Wednesday was an opportunity to make up for the time that was lost back in January.
“I felt like today went really well. There was a different type of pressure on us today. I don’t think it was like anything we’ve really experienced, playing on Saturdays or anything like that. It was a different type of pressure,” he said. “There was a different feel out there on the field. But it was something we were all prepared for. I think we did well, performing in it.”
Cleveland joked that it’s crazy to think he’s about to embark on what he hopes is a long and prosperous career in the NFL.
“Life is definitely moving a lot faster than I ever thought it would. You always hear time flies when you’re growing up, but when you’re a kid, you don’t really think about it,” he said. “But the older I’ve gotten; time starts moving fast. Heck, we’re almost through March, into April right now. It feels like Christmas was just two weeks ago, but I’ve learned to take it one day at time, take things in stride, and go where they go.”
