Keith Loneker, a former Kansas University football standout, helps Sebastian Lovell, 16, with his schoolwork at Free State High School. When Loneker isn’t auditioning for movie roles, he is a substitute teacher at Free State.

Keith Loneker rehearses a locker room scene on the set of Leatherheads. The actor earned All Big Eight honors three times while playing football for the Kansas Jayhawks.

Keith Loneker, second from left, joins George Clooney and John Krasinski in the football comedy Leatherheads. This is the second film Loneker, a former KU Jayhawks offensive lineman and NFL player, has made with Clooney.

George Clooney, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Free State High special education students have at least one thing in common: They’ve all worked with Keith Loneker.

Loneker, 37, has made security rounds at Lawrence High, played librarian for a day at an elementary school and now is a substitute at Free State.

Oh, and he’s been in a few movies you may have heard about.

“The three would be ‘Lakeview Terrace,’ ‘Leatherheads’ and ‘Out of Sight,'” says Loneker, who is 6-foot, 4-inches tall and says he weighs “a whole lot.”

But the kids he sees on a daily basis identify him from one of his smallest roles.

“‘Superbad’ is the one they remember the most, and I’m barely in it,” he says.

Loneker is a former offensive lineman who played for Kansas University and for two NFL teams (the Atlanta Falcons and former Los Angeles Rams).

Acting wasn’t exactly in the forefront.

“I can’t say I had a plan for it, but I thought that it could happen,” he says. “The entertaining thing just seems like putting real life off for a little longer.”

But looking at his time at KU, which included All-Big 8 honors two years in a row, it’s no surprise he’s back in the classroom. While he’s still 30 credits shy of a degree, he was pursuing a major in education. After “Leatherheads” wrapped filming, he planned on delving into acting even more and wanted a job with freedom.

So, he’s working in a special education classroom at Free State.

“If I have to leave, I can put in that I can’t work for a couple weeks and nobody gets mad,” he says.

Plus, teachers are glad to have his large presence in their class.

“He’s very patient,” says Mindy Dechant, another special education teacher. “He has a very good understanding of their needs. He just has a good rapport with them.”

And while rubbing elbows with George Clooney isn’t exactly a bad gig, Loneker says he’d rather be in the classroom with kids.

“Even when I’m on the set with George and those guys, they know,” he says. “I’m constantly talking about the kids I coach or the kids from school.”

Emphasis on education

After 3 1/2 years playing in the NFL, Loneker started substitute teaching. When a security opening came up at Lawrence High in 2002, he jumped at the chance.

“I loved the security job,” he says. “It’s even more fun than subbing because you get to talk to all the kids instead of just the kids that come in your room.”

He left the security gig to film “Leatherheads,” and when he returned, he resumed subbing.

But Loneker doesn’t want to just be in front of the camera. He’s penning a screenplay with one of his lifelong friends from New Jersey, who recently moved to Lawrence. The pair used to take a camping trip every summer in high school, and the film is loosely based upon those outings.

“We just have to get it written and get it done because we’ll never be able to do anything else until we get this done. … We always come back to it,” he says. “People seem to be excited about it.”

As for acting, Loneker says he’s doing more auditions now, but ultimately is hearing “no” more than before.

“It used to be I just read for the big guy every three years and I would get it,” he says. “Because more people are requesting me to read, I’m reading parts that are a little bit of a stretch.”

But education is ultimately where it’s at for Loneker, who also does summer workouts with local young athletes. And he’s teaching them more than just how to get in shape.

“I’ve learned a lot of stuff from him because he always has something good to say about football or just about anything,” says Free State senior Matt Frantz, an offensive tackle on the football team who participated in Loneker’s workouts last summer. “He’s a good motivator and he got the best out of all of us at our workouts.”

School rivalries

Just because he may be in the halls of Free State more often these days doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about his start at Lawrence High. He says one summer he trained Free State football players and Lawrence High basketball players, leaving a conflict of sporting interests. He pulled for his trainees during city rivalries, but ultimately he’s a middle man.

“They’re all Lawrence kids,” he says.

Loneker has two children with his wife, Kelly, — Kylee, 14, and Keith Jr., 12. Both attend West Junior High School.

And that’s why Loneker avoids substitute teaching at West.

“I’m afraid if I put a kid in line or send them to the office, they’ll hold it against my kids,” he said. “I don’t want to do that.”

And while acting is still the plan, Loneker is focused on his current job.

“I’m at Free State,” he says, “chasing my kids around, being a dad, being a husband, auditioning as much as I can and seeing where that takes me.”