Exonerated Football Player Brian Banks To Work For NFL Front Office
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) -Pete Carroll was one of the NFL coaches that gave Long Beach native Brian Banks a tryout, having offered him a scholarship ten years earlier at USC.
In that summer of 2002, Banks was falsely accused of rape, cutting short his football career.
And after serving five years in prison and having his rape conviction overturned with the help of the California Innocence Project, Banks will finally fulfill his dream -- work for the NFL.
"I am honored to say I've taken an amazing position w/ the front office of the NFL," said Banks on his Twitter page. "God is good! I'm moving to New York."
Banks will work with the football operations department and will assist in the officiating department on game days.
The former Long Beach Poly High School football star, who was exonerated of rape charges in May of 2012, was contacted by at least six NFL teams for the chance to play for the NFL.
Banks was given a chance to play during a preseason game with the Atlanta Falcons prior to the 2013 NFL season.
Banks was 16 when he was arrested and charged with rape. At the time, he was a star middle linebacker at Long Beach Poly with a full scholarship to USC.
In 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to six years in state prison. He always maintained his innocence.
At the time, the district attorney offered Banks a deal — plead guilty to rape and spend another 18 months in prison, or go to trial and face 41 years to life.
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