On Saturday, lifetime Rockdale resident and Tiger super fan Joe Wayne Cleveland died at his home.
Cleveland was the man behind the scenes filming almost every Tiger football game since 1969 and worked for 11 different Rockdale head football coaches in his 52 seasons atop the Tiger Stadium bleachers.
“One of the greatest all time supporters/volunteers in Rockdale history,” said Lew Simmonds, a coach on the 1976 state championship team, in a 2014 interview. “And I could not have asked for a nicer person than Joe Wayne Cleveland.”
Long before his induction into the Rockdale Hall of Honor as an honorary member in 2014, Cleveland was a first team all-district pick twice as a defensive tackle and was named to the All-Centex team during his playing days for Rockdale High School from 1964 through 1966 before graduating in the spring of 1967.
He was also named to the Battle of the Bell’s 50th anniversary team.
In addition to filming, Cleveland worked in the potrooms at Alcoa for 33 years where a lot of that time was spent as a supervisor and safety coordinator. After retiring, he worked at Perry & Perry Builders as a safety director for 12 years.
He also enjoyed hunting and was an avid golfer out at the Rockdale Country Club.
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