Charlton graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1988.

Charlton was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft with the 21st overall pick, and he played in thirty-one games for the Browns during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. As a first round pick, the Browns had high expectations for Charlton. However, he suffered a severe knee injury that tore the MCL and ACL ligaments of his knee and prematurely ended his professional career.

Charlton accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and played linebacker for coach Galen Hall’s Florida Gators football team from 1984 to 1987. He was a member of the Gators’ best-in-the-Southeastern Conference (SEC) football teams that posted identical 9–1–1 overall win-loss records in 1984 and 1985. He was also a first-team All-SEC selection in 1986 and 1987, and a first-team All-American and team captain in 1987. Charlton’s fifteen forced fumbles, forty-nine career tackles for a loss and twenty-five quarterback sacks still rank first, fifth and fourth, respectively, on the Gators’ all-time career records lists.

Clifford Tyrone Charlton (born February 16, 1965) is an American former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the late 1980s. Charlton played college football for the University of Florida, and received All-American honors. A first-round pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, he played professionally for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

Charlton was born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1965. He attended Leon High School in Tallahassee, where he was a standout high school football player for the Leon Lions.