Brian Banks, who was on his way to a big future in football before he was wrongfully convicted of rape in 2002, is getting a second shot at his dream. Banks, 26, was exonerated last week and so far, four NFL teams have offered Banks a spot in their training camps.
“My mouth hurts from smiling so much,” Banks told ESPN. He starts his new fight to become an professional football player next week at a work out with the Seattle Seahawks.
Banks was a star football player at Long Beach Poly High School in 2002 and had already secured a full scholarship to the football powerhouse University of Southern California when he was falsely accused of rape.He served five years in prison and was forced to wear a GPS tracking monitor after he was released. Banks was exonerated last week after the victim recanted her story.
Now, Banks is refocusing his life on his dream of playing football in the NFL. He has been training since October and NFL trainer Gavin Macmillan says Banks has a shot to make it.
Read the story on ESPN.com here.