Robert Nnanna Okereke ( ; born July 29, 1996) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

and was selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the third round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Early life

Okereke was born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

to parents who emigrated from Nigeria. He attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Foothill High School.

College career

Okereke attended and played

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He redshirted as a freshman in 2014. He contributed on the field from 2015 to 2018. He recorded 227 total tackles (20.0 were for loss), 10.5 sacks, one interception (a 52-yard pick-six), eight passes defensed, one fumble recovery, and three forced fumbles. He was named

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Honorable Mention in 2017 and 2018.

College statistics

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Okereke was selected by the

in the third round (89th overall) of the

. The pick was announced by former Colts punter

Pat McAfee Patrick Justin McAfee ( ; born May 2, 1987) is an American sports analyst, color commentator, and former professional football punter and kickoff specialist. He is an analyst on '' College GameDay'' and the host of the sports talk show '' Th ...

. He made his NFL debut in the season opener against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

. He earned his first career start in Week 3 against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. In Week 13 against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

, Okereke recorded a strip sack on

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, playing wide receiver until his junior year, and was selected eighth overall by the Miami Dol ...

which was recovered by teammate

Justin Houston Justin Donovan Houston (born January 21, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, earning first-team All-American honors in 2010. Houston was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs i ...

in the 31–17 loss. This was Okereke's first career sack in the NFL. In the 2019 season, he recorded one sack, 65 total tackles, two passes defended, and two forced fumbles. In Week 5 of the 2020 season against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, Okereke recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by

Baker Mayfield Baker Reagan Mayfield (born April 14, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners ...

during the 32–23 loss. In the 2020 season, he recorded 72 total tackles, one interception, and six passes defended. In the 2021 season, Okereke started in all 17 games. He finished with one sack, 132 total tackles, two interceptions, and four passes defended. In the 2022 season, Okereke started in all 17 games. He finished with 151 total tackles, five passes defended, and two forced fumbles.

New York Giants

On March 16, 2023, Okereke signed a four-year contract with the

. In the

2023 NFL season The 2023 NFL season was the 104th season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season began on September 7, 2023, with defending Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City losing to Detroit in the NFL Kickoff Game, and ended on January ...

, he recorded 149 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions, and 10 passes defensed. Okereke, along with teammate

Xavier McKinney Xavier Avis McKinney (born August 8, 1998) is an American professional football safety for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and was selected by the New York Gia ...

, were the only defenders in the NFL to not miss a snap in the entire season. In the 2024 season, he had two sacks, 93 tackles, three passes defended, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Controversies

Okereke was the subject of a

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

investigation at Stanford in 2015. Three members of the university's five-person investigative panel concluded Okereke committed sexual assault, but the ruling didn't cross the 4-1 threshold necessary to pursue further punitive action. Okereke has maintained that the allegations are untrue.

References

External links

*
New York Giants bioStanford Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okereke, Bobby 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Santa Ana, California American football linebackers American players of American football of Nigerian descent Stanford Cardinal football players Indianapolis Colts players New York Giants players