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

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

and was drafted 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

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. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Early life

Okereke was born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

to parents who emigrated from Nigeria. He attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Foothill High School.

College career

Okereke attended and played

at Stanford. 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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Honorable Mention in 2017 and 2018.

College statistics

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Okereke was drafted by the

in the third round (89th overall) of the

. The pick was announced by former Colts punter Pat McAfee. 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 Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, Okereke recorded a strip sack on

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...

which was recovered by teammate

Justin Houston Justin Donovan Houston (born January 21, 1989) is an American football outside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he earned All-American honors, and was draf ...

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. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

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

Baker Mayfield Baker Reagan Mayfield (born April 14, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Texas Tech, Mayfield played college football at Oklahoma, where he won the Hei ...

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, 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 Alshon McKinney (born August 9, 1999) is an American football Safety (gridiron football position), safety for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama ...

, were the only defenders in the NFL to not miss a snap in the entire season.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Controversies

Okereke was the subject of a

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

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