At Last: Banks and Carroll 10 Years Later
It had been nearly ten years since Brian Banks was able to show off his football skills. Ten years since a former female friend named Wanetta Gibson would falsely accuse the Long Beach (Calif.) Poly football standout of rape. Ten years since his dream of playing for hometown USC and Pete Carroll was dashed. Ten years since his hopes of becoming a NFL pro were temporarily placed on hold to get through a five-year prison stint, and another five years of probation. But everything changed yesterday in Seattle when Banks, in front of former USC head coach, and current Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, was able to get a second chance to prove his football worth.
And prove himself he did. Banks was so impressive that the Seattle Seahawks extended him an official invite to their minicamp next week. Banks has yet to accept the minicamp invitation. Why, if this is his dream, you ask? Well because he’s been invited for workouts by numerous other teams, including the San Diego Chargers today.
Two weeks before Banks had already proven himself in court when a judge officially exonerated him of the 2002 rape of Wanetta Gibson. After revealing in an undercover investigation that she had lied, it was the secretly videotaped testimony of alleged victim Wanetta Gibson that had finally freed Brian Banks of the pain and stigma of being labelled a sex offender for nearly ten years.
After fighting for his reputation, Brian Banks is now fighting to prove that even a 10-year-old NFL dream can’t die when hard work and determination are your driving factors.
