A 10th round selection (77th overall pick) of the 1948 National Football League draft, he played two seasons for the AAFC's New York Yankees (1948) and Chicago Hornets (1949).

Cleary spent three years in the United States Army, serving in the Pacific Theater and in the Occupation of Japan, rising to the rank of first lieutenant.

He was discharged just in time to enroll at Southern California and join the football team in 1946.

In 1973 the Los Angeles Times selected all-time Southern California teams, and Cleary was at end on the pre-1950 lineup.

Cleary was selected by the Chicago Rockets in the fourth round of the 1948 AAFC Draft.