Convicted of rape and kidnapping in 2003, former California high school football star Brian Banks is now a free man after the victim recanted. Banks told NBC’s Today on Friday that he wants a shot at pro football.
“I think that any team that gives me an opportunity would be really impressed with what I can do despite all of what I’ve been through these past 10 years,” Banks told Ann Curry of Today.
Banks pleaded no contest as part of a deal that put him in prison for six years; he was facing a maximum sentence of 41 years. He remained on probation, wearing a monitoring device on his ankle at the Thursday hearing that wiped the convictions off his record.
Banks’ accuser, Wanetta Gibson, had previously expressed to Banks a desire to tell the truth, but she feared having to repay a $1.5 million settlement with the school district they attended.
Now 26, Banks was a linebacker in high school. He had verbally committed to attend USC.