The diet of offensive linemen can get pretty hairy at times, however one “item” on the menu of Baltimore Ravens rookie guard Ben Cleveland very well may take the cake.
Nicknamed “Big Country,” the third-round pick out of Georgia admitted that he’s eaten a few squirrels while growing up in the small town of Toccoa, Ga.
“I don’t know if it was a specific diet. It’s more so one of those things where you eat what you’ve got in the freezer from the fall,” the 6-foot-6, 343-pound Cleveland said. “Had a few squirrels freeze dried in there. Get a little hungry, ain’t got no deer meat left, fry you up a squirrel or two and just go eat that.”
When asked how it tastes, Cleveland … well, let him tell you.
“It tastes like squirrel. I don’t know how else to explain it to you,” he said. “Some squirrels in south Georgia, they’ll taste a little bit more nutty. Up here, our acorns and stuff aren’t really as strong as the ones down south. Most of them up here, it just tastes like squirrel. If you put enough seasoning on it, you can make it taste like anything you want it to taste like.”
–Field Level Media