Seahawks Give Exonerated High School Star A Chance

Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll recruited Brian Banks while at Southern Cal. That was before Banks’ life took the ultimate detour.

Brian Banks was  a high-profile football recruit at Long Beach Polytechnic in California ten years ago.  He had been offered a scholarship to USC under coach Pete Carroll.

Then his world fell apart.

Banks was charged with kidnapping and rape and faced up to 41 years in prison if convicted when he accepted a deal, pleading no contest.

He served five years in prison, and spent the past five years on parole before the purported victim in the case recanted her allegations and admitted the story was made up.

Banks was exonerated in California Superior Court last week.

Now, he has tryouts lined up with six NFL teams. He will work out for the Seahawks  first.

Banks was helped in his case by the California Innocence Project, which is a clinical program of the California Western School of Law in San Diego.

The Seahawks have been known to give players a second chance.

For Brian Banks, It’s a chance he never thought he’d get.

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