Exonerated player Brian Banks signs with Atlanta Falcons

Brian Banks signs with the Atlanta Falcons

Yesterday, April 3, 2013 Brian Banks signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons.  Most of us are familiar with Banks. He is the ex-USC linebacker recruit whose football dreams were dashed by a five-year prison stint, being accused of rape in 2002 and then winning his fight for his exoneration of rape.  Banks is where he once envisioned, passing a physical Wednesday morning and signing a contract with the Atlanta Falcons.

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History of this Tragic Event:                                         

Banks, 27, was accused of rape in 2002 while a football standout at Long Beach Poly High. Facing a prison sentence of up to 41 years if convicted, he pleaded guilty at the advice of his then-attorney. He spent five years, two months in prison followed by five years on parole as a registered sex offender.

Banks' accuser, a former classmate, contacted him after his release via Facebook. They met, and she recanted her story.  A private investigator later recorded her confession, key evidence in the clearance of his name.  Banks said Wednesday he's been through "hell and back."

"It’s almost impossible to explain the feeling of not having freedom," Banks said in a conference call. "To be stripped of your freedom, of your dignity, of the respect that you once had. To lose it all and watch the world pass you by as you sit inside of a prison cell, knowing that you shouldn’t be there, knowing that you are there for another person’s lies. To lose it all and to wake up one day and get it all back, it’s a very humbling, spiritual feeling that you don’t want to take for granted."

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Banks, who is 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, is a linebacker.

A year ago, he was out of prison on parole, wearing an ankle monitor as a registered sex offender. The contrast with this week's events is "surreal," Banks said.

"Talk about coming from the bottom," he told reporters. "I know all too well what that is and what it looks like and what it feels like."

While serving time in prison, Banks said he was forced to abandon his hopes of playing in the NFL someday.

"I had to watch my class go on and receive scholarships and play collegiate football on a high level," he said. "For me I had to let those dreams go for me to focus on what was ahead of me, and that was five years in prison. That was a completely different life of violence and being away from your family. ... Football was the last thing on my mind, and it wasn't until a few months before I was actually being released from prison that I thought about possibly trying to play football again."

We are Pulling for Banks!

Banks will attempt to do something that is very difficult to do, make an NFL roster.  A very small group of players ever have the opportunity to don a NFL uniform.  Brian Banks will attempt to do so after a decade of being away from the game.  His perseverance is a model for us all and I am pulling for him.  He has been away from the contact of the game, the speed of the game will be much greater than he ever imagined.  The physicality of the game will challenge his inner strength.  The football IQ required by an NFL player is demanding.  Banks has been through an incredible event and I could never imagine what he has gone through and therefore I will not question him.  I will just cheer for him and hope to see him in a Falcons uniform this coming August!

Good Luck to you Brian Banks!  Your Deserve something good to happen!    

 

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