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Saints linebacker Anfernee Orji works as substitute teacher in offseason

The linebacker taught for the Rockwell Independent School District including his old school Herman Utley Middle School

Apr 11, 2025 at 09:00 AM

Jim Kleinpeter

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By Jim Kleinpeter, special to NewOrleansSaints.com

New Orleans Saints reserve linebacker Anfernee Orji spent his first offseason trying to make himself a better football player.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound reserve linebacker signed as a free agent and rode the practice squad through the 2023 season. When it ended, he ran, lifted and conditioned which helped him earn playing time in 16 games last season, recording 30 tackles.

But Orji wanted something more from his next break and it had nothing to do with his football career.

Orji then dialed up a pair of his middle and high school mentors and is now more than two months into his second job as a substitute teacher for the Rockwall Independent School District in his hometown of Rockwall, Texas.

"I feel like I'm an odd person, so I wanted to do something different," Orji said. "Players hold football camps but you're only reaching football players. I wanted to reach all the kids, the guys too shy to come to camps or events.

"I had never once thought of being an educator. I just wanted to give back. I value teachers so much, I think it's such an important job, the most important outside of being a parent. I wanted to show my appreciation."

No one was more appreciative than Rasheed Rasshan and Kody Hergert, who had coached Orji in middle and high school. Rasshan, now the at-risk and athletic coordinator for the Mesquite Independent School District, was moved to tears when the idea first came up when they were having lunch in January.

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"He said 'Coach you made such an impact in my life and if I had not had you, I wouldn't be where I am today and I want to give back the way you did to me,'" Rasshan said. "I'm a crier; I'm sitting there getting all emotional."

Rasshan called Hergert, who is the principal at Rockwall Quest Academy for recovery and at-risk students. He contacted human resources for the Rockwall Independent School District to set up training classes and get the proper forms in place. By late January, Orji was standing in front of his first class.

The appreciation swelled only a few hours into his first assignment, a robotics class at Orji's alma mater Herman Utley Middle School.

"Most of the kids didn't know who I was and that really wasn't why I was doing it," Orji said. "Once the word got around - and it got around quick - by third or fourth period, students were flocking to my room for my autograph, pictures, all that."

His second assignment was at Rockwall Quest Academy, which presented a different challenge with at-risk students that Orji handled easily.

"He's really good at building relationships," Hergert said. "Being tough works for some, but with this generation of kids, they have to know who you are before they respect you. He did a great job of controlling the room and having simple conversations with them, getting to know them."

Orji is qualified to teach a variety of subjects, especially math and science. He also volunteered to speak to Fellowship of Christian Athlete groups. Besides being a star athlete at Rockwall High School, he was also a top student, class president and a member of the school orchestra where he played the viola.

A three-star recruit, he received a football scholarship from Vanderbilt, navigating one of the nation's most challenging academic institutions in three years with a degree in Communication Science and Technology.

Orji was raised in a family with high standards in academics, as well as athletics. His father, Willy, works in IT with computers and his mother, Mariam, is a surgeon, who attended medical school while Anfernee was in elementary school. Both immigrated from Nigeria in the 1990s and still live in the house where Anfernee grew up.

His older brother, Alston, was a teammate at Vanderbilt and younger brother Alex a quarterback at UNLV after spending a year at Michigan during its 2023 CFP championship season.

Orji says he likes being seen as a "cool young teacher, not just someone who plays football." He's considering taking his classroom skills to New Orleans during the season where he could substitute on Tuesdays, the Saints' weekly off day.

"It's not what I thought it would be at all," Orji said. "Seeing the smiles on the kids' faces ... they want to take pictures, tag me and parents tag me in Facebook posts. Seeing that it feels so good, you have no idea. It just might be my thing."

Photos: Saints, Anfernee Orji host Play Football Experience at Visitation of Our Lady School