Less than 24 hours after riding down I-40 back to Raleigh from ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, NC State senior defensive tackle Brandon Cleveland was ready to entertain a different crowd Friday afternoon.
The Wolfpack’s go-to nose tackle, who has a knack for giving back to his community anyway he can, stood in front of nearly 200 elementary and middle school students at the Boys & Girls Club in Raleigh, ready to hand out backpacks stuffed with school supplies on the warm summer afternoon.
Cleveland organized the school supply drive through Pack United, an NC State student-athlete led non-profit organization, as he funded the initiative with his own NIL money. At the event, he was joined by redshirt sophomore defensive end Isaiah Shirley and a few other football teammates on the defensive line, along with representatives from NC State softball, track and field, women’s soccer and half the women’s basketball team, including head coach Wes Moore.
The mid-afternoon charitable act wasn’t for the cameras, which there were very few of in attendance. Instead, it was another Friday for Cleveland. It’s just a small glimpse into who the 6-foot-4, 315-pound defensive lineman truly is off the field, removed from hunting opposing quarterbacks or clogging running lanes on the line of scrimmage.
“I grew up in a single-parent household, so I love to give back,” Cleveland told TheWolfpacker.com. “A community, I depended on them. They did a lot for me. The least I could do is give back to the community. Raleigh’s been great to me, always showing love, always showing support. That’s the bare minimum that I could do.”
Cleveland is no stranger to finding ways to impact Raleigh, a community he has adopted as his own through his first three years at NC State. He has frequented Moore Square to hand out pizzas to those in need in the past, while he also helped raise $10,000 for Feed the Pack pantry, which helps address on-campus food insecurity at NC State.
The Tampa, Fla., native was inspired to help others after he watched those around him help his mother by shuttling Cleveland to and from practices and other events he needed to be at. The good deeds that his youth coaches, Charles Reed and Marshall McDuffie, did for Cleveland led to him wanting to do the same when he had the platform to do so.
Now, playing at NC State and the ever-changing college athletics landscape with NIL have allowed Cleveland to use his stage to help impact others’ lives.
“For some guys, NIL is a shopping spree,” Cleveland said. “But I look at it to use it to help do what I’m passionate about, like giving back. I’m happy to pay it forward.”
Cleveland’s main priority when serving his community, whether it’s handing out backpacks to a crowd of eager children or helping feed the homeless, is to help take stress off others’ backs. He takes immense pride in doing so, which most of the time, helps clear his own mind in the process.
“Honestly, I forget about all my problems and worries, and I just get to put someone else’s worries on my shoulders,” Cleveland said. “It just makes me feel good that I can sit down and talk to someone and help them in any type of way.”
Cleveland’s community work off the field has earned him several recognitions, including being nominated for the 2024 and 2025 Allstate Good Works Team, the 2024 Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award Watch list, and was up for the 2024 Wuerffel Trophy, college football’s prestigious award for community service.
Despite being on the receiving end of the national watch lists and up for some of the top honors in college football, Cleveland isn’t motivated by a certificate or a trophy. Instead, he is striving to set an example for the next generation. If he can impact someone the same way those that helped him growing up did, then it was a successful event.
And at the same time, Cleveland has used these community interactions as a way to better himself in the process.
“I just want to be the best version of myself I can be,” Cleveland said. “I only get one life, only one chance. I just want to be the best version of myself, no matter what.”
