Indianapolis Colts rookie linebacker Bobby Okereke was the subject of sexual assault allegations during his time at Stanford in 2015. The third-round pick addressed those allegations on Saturday.
Following the team’s training camp practice at the Grand Park Sports Complex on Saturday, Okereke defended himself against the allegations—which were filed through the school and not in a formal charge with the police.
“Those were untrue allegations,” Okereke told reporters via IndyStar. “I fully complied with the school investigation and was found not responsible. I informed the team about it during the pre-draft process.”
Though he had not been named publicly as the subject of the allegations at the time of the Senior Bowl, Okereke did reveal the information to the Colts during the pre-draft process.
General manager Chris Ballard felt that with all of the information and the fact that there were no formal charges made, the team felt comfortable selecting Okereke in the third round.
“I don’t want to sit here and act like we don’t have sympathy for both sides,” said Ballard in June, addressing the media in an impromptu update. “It happened four years ago, and because there were no (police) charges and no disciplinary action taken by the university, and because of his track record since, we felt comfortable drafting him.”
The Colts ran their own investigation leading up to the draft and came away comfortable with selecting Okereke. Ballard said they did not interview the accuser.
Okereke will be competing for a starting role with Anthony Walker in the middle of the defense and now looks forward to helping his new team.
“Right now, I’m just focused on making this team,” said Okereke. “Helping this team out like I can and moving forward.”
The Stanford product is not expected to be investigated by the NFL as the allegations were made before he entered the league.
