Exonerated football player gets signed by UFL team

It's been a long road that Brian Banks has been following in his quest to become an NFL player.  Banks — who went from high school football standout to falsely-accused suspect to prison inmate — has now signed a pro football contract with the Las Vegas Locos of the United Football League.  The team announced the move with a beaming Banks at a press conference Wednesday.

Falsely accused of rape at age 16, the high school linebacker spent five years in prison and another five years on probation before he was exonerated in May after his accuser recanted her story.

Banks, who lost 50 pounds and almost all hope for a pro football career while he sat in a prison cell, received interest from  several pro teams when he was released — including Pete Carroll who received a verbal commitment from Banks 10 years earlier when he was the coach at USC.  Carroll invited his old prospect up to his Seattle Seahawks camp to workout.  Other NFL teams interested in giving Banks his shot were the Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins.

The 27-year old rookie attended some summer minicamps and the list of suitors was impressive — but 10 years of hardship had taken its toll.  Banks went back to Los Angeles and kept working out and waited.

The consensus among Carroll's people was that Banks exceeded all expectations considering the circumstances.

"Size-wise, strength-wise, and all that kind of stuff, he's in the right kind of profile," said Carroll.

Banks went away without an NFL contract but signing with the UFL is a step in the right direction. There is talk in Seattle of Banks hooking up with an NFL practice squad in midseason.

"Does he look like a ballplayer? Yes. Does he move well? Yes. Is there a chance? Absolutely," said Seahawks linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr.. "I liked the first impression he left."

It's impossible to root against this guy.

Brian Banks impresses Seahawks at minicamp tryout

Brian Banks— the exonerated football player wrongly accused of rape— finally got a chance to follow his dream and tryout for an NFL team— after a decade of shattered dreams.

Yesterday, Banks called his minicamp invite with the Seattle Seahawks, "The second best day of my life."  It isn't too hard to figure out what the best day was— "May 24, my exoneration."

Pete Carroll, the Seahawks head coach was one of the first people to reach out to Banks after ten years of enduring bad prison food and even worse legal advice.  When the 26-year old Banks was a 16-year old California high school football star, it was Carroll (then at USC) who offered the young linebacker a full scholarship to the football powerhouse before he pleaded "no contest" to a crime he didn't commit.

Now, after being away from the sport he loved, Banks was getting his chance to live " a dream come true."

"When we first heard the story about Brian, I thought it was some remarkable circumstances and a guy up against all odds, extraordinary circumstances, but not until I talked to him on the telephone did I realize what kind of guy this guy is and that he deserved a chance," said Carroll after the workout.

"Given other circumstances, he would have earned it under our eyes, but this is a guy that just deserved it."

Carroll was known for developing linebackers at USC and you couldn't get any rawer talent trying out for the NFL than Banks. He's taken off 50 pounds in the last year and has been running 4.6 and 4.7 40's on his own but the only things he's tackled in ten years were his demons.

Carroll was careful not to confuse reality from the feel good story.

"He looks like a guy who has not been schooled and worked out in the fashion that our guys are at this level.  It's going to take him some time and I think our expectations need to be fitted to that," he said.  He's not had the upscale program and individual workouts and the kinds of things that guys do to get here.  So to look as good as he did under those circumstances was worth noting."

Banks worked on basic position drills with the Seahawks' coaches but had the whole facility to himself because Seattle was docked two practices because of too much contact in OTAs.  A real test of where he stands will be going against NFL players in San Diego.

How did yesterday's workout go?  It's worth noting that he was invited back to the Seahawks minicamp but hasn't accepted because he's working out for the San Diego Chargers today and has invites from the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins as well.

Right now, it might seem more like good P.R. strategy by these NFL clubs to give Banks a shot than a sound football move but it might not be so far-fetched for him to make a team.  He had ten years to think about what could have been and might have a hunger so strong it could overcome his lack of college experience and even his senior year of high school.

Banks is grateful so many teams are giving him a shot.

"It's taken some getting used to," he said.  "And I'm realizing that I'm giving people hope to overcome the situations they're also going through.  And if that's my calling, I'm ready to answer."

Asked if Banks could make the team, Carroll said, "It's very possible."

Exonerated football player to get NFL tryout with Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks have confirmed they will hold a tryout for Brain Banks, the former California high school football star who was freed from prison after serving five years for a rape case in which he was falsely accused.

The former Long Beach Poly linebacker had a verbal agreement for a full scholarship to USC before a childhood friend falsely accused Banks, now 26, of attacking her on their high school campus.  Banks pleaded no contest to the charges at the advice of his attorney.

Last Thursday, a judge threw out the conviction that sent banks to prison for more than five years after the woman recanted her story and Banks recorded it.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll— who was at USC when Banks was offered the full ride— did not speak to reporters after the Seahawks' off-season workout on Wednesday, but the team confirmed that Banks will work out for the team on June 7.

Other NFL teams have shown interest in giving Banks a shot at his dream— after the story was all over the news last week— including the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and Miami Dolphins.

Banks is confident he can still make an NFL team and has been working out in preparation of pursuing his dream and reclaiming almost ten years of his life.  At 26, Banks is one year shy of the the average age of an NFL player.  So there's still hope.

The reversal of the decision was won by the California Innocence Project, which took the new evidence back to Superior Court judge Mark C. Kim— who presided over the original case.

Banks' ties to former USC coach Carroll make a good story.  Let's hope the wronged young man can make the team.

Exonerated former-football prospect still hopes for shot in NFL

By Tony Mangia

Brian Banks, a man accused of rape ten years ago, was finally exonerated of a crime he never committed after spending five years of his life behind prison walls and having a once promising football career derailed in the process.

On Thursday, Banks walked out of a Long Beach, Ca. courthouse with his parents Leomia and Jonathan— after having his rape conviction dismissed— and took in a breath of freedom before tearfully promising to pursue his dream of playing pro football.

"This is the first step in reinventing my life," he said after a judge issued the ruling.

Banks— wearing a sweatshirt with the word "innocent" on it— stood on the courtroom steps as his advisor Justin Brooks addressed the media, "I have a message to any NFL executives out there. . . give this guy a shot."

At 16 years old, Banks had his eye on a career in the NFL.  He was a star middle linebacker at Long Beach Polytechnic— one of the premier California high school football teams— and had already verbally agreed to a full scholarship at USC after being courted by almost every top program in the country.

The came a childhood friend's false accusation of rape in 2002— a claim she has now recanted.

Gil Brandt, an NFL draft consultant, said Banks would be eligible to sign with any team that might show interest.  However, the years away from the playing field will be his biggest obstacle.

"History tells us guys who come back after one or two years in the service find it awfully hard," he said.  "and this has been a much longer time."

Banks, who always dreamed about playing for the San Diego Chargers, says he is ready for the challenge.

"It's been a struggle.  But I'm unbroken and I'm still here today."

The tall, muscular Banks is 26 now— only one year shy of the NFL average age.  And although he has been working out six days a week, he did miss out on four years of experience at USC while sitting in a jail cell— years so costly to a young NFL hopeful.

While Banks' chances for an NFL career are slim, there is no reason an NFL team couldn't give him a shot.  And via his "Pursuit of the NFL" video blog, you can watch his progression every step of the way.

According to LA Weekly, Bill Johnston, director of public relations for the San Diego Chargers said, "There's no interest at this time" about giving Banks a tryout.  "No one here had even heard of him until this story came out today."

Still, it doesn't sound like Banks will be easily deterred from achieving his NFL goal.

"I feel like anything is possible," he said.  "And it's proven today by me getting my freedom back."