ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- Bobby Okereke worked his way up the stairs to the second floor of the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County this spring.
Some of the children didn't seem to know him, just that he was some kind of "VIP" who towered over the busy school-age kids.
One boy stopped Okereke as he made his way into a multimedia room that had a recording studio and asked his name. Okereke, the starting middle linebacker for the New York Giants, told him.
"This you?" the boy asked just seconds later.
He had searched Okereke on one of the facility's computers. On the screen was a collage of pictures of him in a Giants uniform.
"Yeah, that's me," he said with a chuckle and smile.
The boy followed up with a barrage of questions, ranging from if he makes a lot of money to if he knew Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry. Okereke answered them all with his trademark smile, creating a memory the boy will likely never forget.
These are the kinds of interactions Okereke has come to expect while making stops at Boys & Girls Clubs across New Jersey. And there have been plenty.
Okereke has made visits to 11 clubs, including one twice when he brought the Giants' linebackers room on a recent field trip to the Boys & Girls Club of Hudson County.
He expects there to be more.
It was Okereke's goal to get to as many clubs as possible this offseason, perhaps even becoming the first celebrity to visit all 16 Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey. Okereke already has been to all from Central New Jersey to Monmouth County and up to the northern tip of the state.
"We've never really had a player, I'll say, as committed to really go across a large part of the state making these rounds," said Boys & Girls Club of New Jersey State Director Susan Haspel.
Okereke has his reasons. The 28-year-old was in the Boy Scouts as a kid in California -- and even became an Eagle Scout. He believes it gave him an understanding of the importance of organizations that offer kids a safe place flush with mentors and life-enhancing programs.
It isn't lost on Okereke the impact a "special guest" appearance can make on a child. He remembers having a substitute teacher who was a minor league baseball player. Okereke can't remember his name, or whether he was a Double-A or Triple-A prospect. That hardly matters. What remains is a strong memory with a lasting impact. He still remembers the excitement that came from the opportunity to interact with a professional athlete.
This is Okereke's way of giving back after, admittedly, not being able to do as much community outreach as he would have liked to this past season because of a disk injury in his back. He hatched the idea for the Boys & Girls Club tour along with his marketing rep, Theresa Villano Reed, and connected with Haspel back in November.
"Just being in those clubs, meeting the kids, meeting the teachers, it kind of called on me to keep going back and pouring into those communities," Okereke said while hosting a 7-on-7 flag football tournament in Jersey City with Athletes Make Progress Together (AMPT). "So yeah, we've just been building as we grow."
Okereke hopes to provide the same types of experiences for children at the Boys & Girls Clubs. And the interactions are equally inspirational for him.
"I know sometimes, selfishly, I feel like I get more out of it than the kids," Okereke said. "[It's] so fulfilling to come here to engage these kids and really feel like you're making an impact. To kind of have one-on-one conversations with these kids where they feel they can open up, it's really fulfilling to me. So it warms my heart and yeah, it's something I hope I get to do a lot more of."
What ultimately fulfills the linebacker?
"Community," he said.
The same community that Okereke is trying to bolster might not be his home for much longer. The 2024 season didn't go as planned for him -- or the Giants. His production was down in a new defensive scheme, and his back injury kept him out of the final five games. Okereke could barely sit and was trying everything (including alternative methods such as hanging upside down, yoga and holistic approaches) to get healthy.
Ultimately, there was no need for surgery. Only time to heal his wounds.
That makes 2025 a make-or-break season for Okereke, with no more guaranteed money remaining on the four-year, $40 million deal he signed in March 2023. He envisions Year 2 in defensive coordinator Shane Bowen's system to be different and better.
"I see me flying around making plays," Okereke said. "I see me filling up the stat sheet, and I see me being a leader."
If he doesn't revert to his previous form, who knows what his football-playing future has in store. He heard the rumblings about possibly being traded this offseason, even if he didn't believe them to be true.
It makes Okereke's commitment to the Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey that much more commendable.
"If you see the smiles on the kids' faces, that pretty much says it all," Haspel said. "But everyone from the kids and on. I mean, he interacts with the staff. If the families are coming for pickup, he talks to the families, he takes pictures with them. If the siblings come with the parents for pickup, he takes pictures. The guy just doesn't say no to anybody or anything when he comes to these clubs. And it's just amazing. It's really, really special."
It's continuing a trend from the past few years, during which he has made the Garden State his home. Although most players leave during the offseason and breaks, Okereke has stayed in New Jersey to live, train and rehab. He has immersed himself in its culture.
"Yeah, Jersey's home. Jersey feels like home, and when I got here in 2023, Jersey welcomed me with open arms," he said. "I've really felt the love here since I've been here."
Over the past month alone, in addition to his visits to the Boys & Girls Clubs, Okereke hosted a flag football tournament and had an event for New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a fellow Stanford football alum, at his home.
It's all part of what Okereke semi-jokingly calls the philanthropic wing at Bobby Okereke Enterprises. And part of what makes him such a respected player on the field and in the locker room.
"Bobby's the leader, man. He's loud. He's in control of everything," new teammate Jevon Holland said. "He's the man in the middle, so he encompasses everything that I would see in a middle linebacker."
No matter what the future holds, Okereke's goal is to continue to be involved and see what fills his passion.
"Fulfill your community at the end of the day," Okereke said as his flag football tournament came to completion, "and take it from there. So it's fun."