Bobby Okereke
NEW YORK GIANTS
| Position | College | Years in the NFL |
|---|---|---|
| Middle Linebacker | Stanford University | 7 |
Excellence on the Field:
Okereke has proven himself as an elite middle linebacker in today's National Football League. Bobby has played in 102 regular-season games and one postseason game with 87 starts for the Colts and Giants. His career totals to date include 733 tackles (467 solo), 33 tackles for loss, 32 passes defensed, 13 quarterback hits, 11 forced fumbles, 7.5 sacks, 7 fumble recoveries, and 5 interceptions. After signing as a free agent with the Giants in 2023, Bobby went on to become the only player in the NFL with 140+ tackles, 10+ tackles for loss, and 10+ passes defensed. He was one of two defensive players in the NFL to play every single one of his team's defensive snaps (1,128). He totaled an impressive team-high 149 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 10 passes defensed, 6 quarterback hits, 4 forced fumbles and a career-high tying 2 interceptions. In 2024, Okereke started the first 12 games before suffering a back injury in Week 13 and being placed on season-ending injured reserve. Despite missing the final five games, Bobby finished 3rd on the team with 93 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 3 passes defensed, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 quarterback hits and 2.0 sacks. Through the first 9 games of the 2025 season, Okereke ranks fifth in the NFL and leads all Giants with 82 tackles. Since joining the Giants in 2023, Okereke has had 10 or more tackles in 13 games, which is the third-most by a Giant since 1994, when the NFL began tracking tackles.
Dedication & Commitment to Community Efforts This Year:
After years of exemplary community service, Okereke took his commitment and contributions to unprecedented levels in 2025. Following his visit to Nigeria, Okereke took on a leadership position as General Manager of Team Nigeria's Men's and Women's National Flag Football Teams. Okereke's goal is to build a sustainable pipeline of athletic and leadership talent, one that will culminate in the nation's participation in the 2028 Olympic Flag Football Games. The initiative reflects Okereke's deep belief in the unifying and transformative power of sports, not only as competition but as a vehicle for education, opportunity, and social change. To raise funds and strengthen Nigeria's presence on the global flag football stage, Okereke created Nigerian American Football Outreach, Inc., and hosted a fundraiser at his home, and a fundraiser football clinic in Jersey City. Through NAFO, Okereke aims to develop opportunities for youth in Nigeria by providing access to training, mentorship, and essential resources. The foundation plans to support coaches, staff, equipment, facilities, housing, and food recovery programs, while also focusing on economic empowerment initiatives that promote long-term community growth. Okereke plans to upgrade or establish one football field in Nigeria every year, with new sod, paint, a scoreboard, and equipment. The potential of Team Nigeria was on full display when Bobby traveled with his athletes to Cairo in June 2025 for Africa Flag, where 11 teams from eight African nations participated in the first of IFAF's continental championships series for 2025. The tournament was the starting point for what will be the biggest and most important competition cycle in flag football history. Nigeria's men's and women's teams won gold and were crowned the inaugural IFAF African Flag Football champions. The Nigerian men defeated Egypt by a score of 13-12, while the Nigerian women defeated Morocco 26-12. As African champions, both teams qualify directly to the IFAF Flag Football World Championships in 2026. Okereke also joined Osi Umenyiora and the NFL to help host numerous events, including continental NFL Flag youth championships for U12's boy's and girl's teams from across Africa, an NFL talent identification session, and a coaching education clinic for aspiring female coaches from Africa. This year Bobby also made an unprecedented commitment to visit all 16 Boys and Girls Clubs that are in New Jersey. So far in 2025, he has visited eleven locations. At each visit, Bobby shares his love of learning, reading and being active. As a kid who once dreamed about becoming President of the United States, Okereke held a fundraiser at his New Jersey home for fellow Stanford alum, and New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker. He also plans to financially support one family from Nigeria in nearby Newark, NJ this holiday season, paying their rent and bringing some additional holiday cheer to their home.
Dedication & Commitment to Community Efforts in Years Past:
Okereke has used his platform as an NFL athlete to share his love of learning and his love of football with young people in his home state of California, his local NFL communities, and his parent's native country of Nigeria. Since 2023, and with the help of his Foothill High School football team, Okereke has hosted an annual free football camp for kids in grades 3-8 in his hometown of Santa Ana, California. He also joined Diana Flores, quarterback of the Mexican National Girls Flag Football Team, to host a football clinic for 200 athletes from the Paterson (N.J.) Recreation girls flag football league. He also ran a football clinic for the Barbados U17 National Cricket Team in 2024 while in Barbados for an immersion trip. In 2024, Bobby was introduced to the power and potential of NFL Africa, as he and teammate Kayvon Thibodeaux flew to Lagos, Nigeria at the invitation of Giants' legend Osi Umenyiora. They helped host a 3-day football talent ID camp as well as NFL Flag football activities across five days. Okereke has been a constant contributor to the Giants' local community programs. In 2023, Okereke began his powerful relationship with Boys and Girls Clubs in New Jersey, handing out backpacks and school supplies to 300 children. He returned later that year to share his love of reading and introduced a newly renovated reading room and outdoor garden reading bench. He recently supported the Giants' "Home for the Holidays" initiative by accompanying a single mother on a surprise shopping spree at Bob's Furniture, to fully furnish her home that she purchased for herself and three children through the Newark Land Bank's Section 8 Homeownership Conversion Program. In 2024, he championed the NFL Votes initiative by joining the New Jersey Department of State at the New Jersey Ballot Bowl to celebrate National Voter Registration Day. He attended the Giants' "Jingle Jam," where he helped spread joy to 500 New Jersey foster care children during a holiday party at MetLife Stadium. He helped Inspire Change by visiting the Rutgers-Newark campus to learn about Vera Institute of Justice's continuing education programs for people currently and formerly incarcerated. He has also attended team fan-fests, including the Draft Party, Town Hall and 100th Season Kickoff, hosted members of the Wounded Warrior Project at practice for Salute to Service, and is constantly meeting with fans after training camp practices.
Positive Character & a Lifestyle of Giving Back:
Okereke's father immigrated to the United States from Nigeria in 1978 to pursue a world-class college education, and since birth, Okereke and his three sisters have been raised by their father and mother with the understanding that education would be the key to achieving all their dreams. "Always studious and kind," according to his mother, Bobby did not disappoint and earned an astounding 4.5 GPA at Foothill High School with all AP courses, while playing multiple sports. His parents' proudest moment was when he attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 2013, after beginning scouting at age 6. He was a bass singer in his high school choir, performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Originally a standout soccer and baseball player, Bobby played football for the first time in 9th grade, initially without telling his parents. He soon fell in love with the game, and his abilities became impossible to hide. His combined excellence in high school football and academics earned him several notable awards, including the National Football Foundation of Orange County's Scholar-Athlete Award and the 2014 Watkins Award from The National Alliance of African American Athletes, which recognizes "exceptionally talented African-American male athletes who, by their example, help promote high academic standards and a commitment to community service." Okereke received a scholarship to play football at Stanford University, majoring in Management, Science and Engineering while serving as team captain his senior year. He interned under United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was able to take students from under-resourced communities on tours of the university and announce scholarships to the kids. Today, his Giants teammates have voted him team captain for three consecutive seasons, cementing his role as the leader of the defense and a universally respected member of the team.
