Hearing The Story Of Brian Banks
Jun 18, 2013; Flowery Branch, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons linebacker Brian Banks (53) takes part in a drill during minicamp at the Falcons Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
If you haven’t heard about Atlanta Falcons linebacker Brian Banks, you are really missing out. I was vaguely familiar with what happened but until now haven’t known about the entire situation. He’s got an amazing story and he’s in the process of making the 53 man roster with the Dirty Birds.
I recently listened to Rich Eisen interview Banks on his podcast where he went back and told his story. A story where he was wrongly accused of rape and had to serve five years in prison and five years on parole before he was finally exonerated.
It’s really a chilling tale and you should definitely give it a listen—especially if you don’t know the whole story. Here is the link.
If you are a fan of the Evan Gattis comeback story, there is no reason why you won’t feel the same for Banks, who had his dream of playing college and NFL football taken away from him as a sixteen year old boy.
Banks talks about the day he was accused, his court proceedings (including the world’s worst attorney), his time in jail and on probation, and finally what led up to him convincing the girl who wrongly accused him to tell the truth.
Currently Brian Banks is learning the ins and outs of the Atlanta Falcons playbook and according to Jay Adams, he’s doing a pretty good job of it.
You can bet I’ll be following Banks from here on out and we can only hope that when the NFL season finally comes around, Brian Banks will be able to reclaim his life and the dream that was taken from him so long ago.
It’s going to be a tough road ahead for Banks, as he hasn’t played a down of college football and was unable to play any ball for nearly ten years of his life. However, all signs seem to point to him making progress day in and day out.
What do you guys think about Banks? Are you excited to see him take the field for Atlanta this year? Do you think he has a real shot at playing for the team?