Exonerated of rape, Brian Banks now realizing NFL dream – in different capacity

Article here. Excerpt:

'It's been nearly half a lifetime since Pete Carroll walked up to Brian Banks at Long Beach Poly High and said, "Hey, you can do something. You can be something."

Banks was 15 years old at the time, and to him, that message seemed clear: he had a future playing football.

But two years later, Banks became ensnared in an ordeal of injustice, anger and heartbreak that lasted a decade. On his way to possibly playing for Carroll at USC, Banks was wrongly accused of raping a girl at his high school. Rather than facing 41 years to life in prison if he fought the charges and lost, he pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for five years.

"I screamed and yelled and begged for people to help," Banks said Sunday by phone. "And even then no one listened."

Banks, now 29, was cleared and freed in May 2012 after serving five years of probation (in addition to the five years in prison) when his accuser recanted her story. He got a tryout from Carroll and the Seahawks, and then another from the Falcons. But it was too late for his original dream to come true.

It was not, however, too late for Carroll to be right in his prediction. This year, Banks has found a place where important people are listening: he is working for the NFL in New York City. And even though he just started his first real job, the league might need him even more than he ever needed the league.'