43 in white got yelled at when he screwed up, praised when he did something correct and treated just like the rest of the 80 or so Seattle Seahawks players on the field Wednesday.
We had high hopes and dreams of being out here today and just to finally be out here, to have this helmet on, to have this name on the back of this jersey, to be a part of this team for a day its more than we could ever imagine.
Banks wasn’t sure what to expect Wednesday morning when he boarded a shuttle bus from his hotel to the Seahawks practice facility for his first day taking part in minicamp.
When he walked into the palatial locker room, Banks found a locker specifically for him, with a No.
43 practice jersey hanging on a hook and a new Seahawks helmet waiting to be pulled on.
”Late last month, Banks was still in the hopeful stage that his conviction for rape and kidnapping a decade ago would be overturned by a California court.
In a strange turn of events, the woman later recanted her claim and offered to help Banks clear his name after he was out of prison, a process that led to his conviction being overturned and his record cleared.
Banks is a former USC football recruit from Los Angeles who spent five years in prison on rape and kidnapping charges only to be exonerated 10 years later after the alleged victim recanted.
Hes become a celebrity and spokesman for the California Innocence Project, while also trying to return to the sport he loved as a kid and potentially ignite an NFL career.
Seattle has been the most forthright for giving Banks a chance, and not surprisingly since Banks had given a verbal commitment in the spring of 2002 to play college football at USC under current Seattle coach Pete Carroll.
It started with a private workout last Thursday and an invitation to this week’s minicamp.
After reported workouts for the Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, Banks is now with the Seahawks again to participate in their mandatory minicamp on a tryout basis.
”The flights have been probably what we’ve enjoyed a lot, but something to get used to, the change of time and time zones,” said Banks, who had not been on a plane for more than 15 years until last week’s flight to Seattle.
Here are some other notes from the final day of 49ers’ minicamp:–Linebacker Brian Banks announced on Twitter that he will take part in the 49ers’ rookie minicamp after a tryout this week with the Seattle Seahawks.
Its another to pull on a jersey and latch up a helmet for the first time since a brief stint playing at Long Beach City College in 2007 following his prison release.
Banks started to get himself ready for this chance last October when he weighed nearly 275 pounds but determined he wanted to give playing football one last chance if he could get exonerated and no longer restricted by his probation.
Banks, who weighed 239 pounds for the Seahawks last week, needed to be ready on Wednesday because Seattle didn’t hold back.
But when Banks was correct in what he did – like filling the correct gap from his middle linebacker position during a team drill – Norton was right there patting Banks on the helmet with encouraging words as well.
”—Follow Tim Booth on Twitter: @yahoosports on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook.
Katie Lennard is a business journalist based in Townsville, Australia. Katie has a passion for financial markets and breaking news stories and loves writing about business news, stock market, and economic opinions that matters most to its audience. Katie spends a lot of time discovering and researching latest financial markets and industry news stories in order to make sure the latest and greatest stories are brought to you first on BigBoardNews.com.
