The first round of cuts are done and Brian Banks is still on the Falcons’ roster.
You might think that Tuesday’s deadline loomed large for a player trying to resume his football career after almost 10 years away from the game after being wrongfully convicted of rape while in high school, but Banks said that he wasn’t sweating a visit from the Turk. Banks said that he knew he had worked as hard as he could to make a good impression on Falcons coaches and was prepared for any outcome.
“For me, it wasn’t a difficult day or a nervous moment,” Banks said, via the team’s website. “I feel like if you put your all into something and you work and try as hard as you can, it’s all you really can do. After that, whatever’s supposed to happen will happen. That’s just how I look at things. If I’m supposed to be here and I do all that I can to be here, I’ll be here. The day of first cuts, I treated it as a normal day. If my phone rang, then I knew it was time to hear the words, but it didn’t and I’m still here and I’m still working as hard as I can.”
Banks should see his most extensive action of the preseason in Thursday’s finale, when he and others vying for the final spots on the Falcons roster will get the run of the field while the starters rest for Week One. After that will come another round of cuts that Banks said he’ll approach with the same attitude as the cut to 75 players.
The result of those cuts may not be as positive for Banks, but his outlook should help him find success in life regardless of what the Falcons decide to do.