VIDEO: Exonorated Football Player Brian Banks Speaks with CBS THIS MORNING

Brian Banks, the exonerated football player who was falsely accused of raping his classmate, discussed freedom and his future with the NFL in an interview with co-hosts Charlie Rose Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell that aired live today, Dec. 5, 2012, on CBS THIS MORNING on the CBS Television Network (7:00 AM – 9:00 AM). Check out the video!

Below are excerpts from the interview:

KING: Everybody that meets you walks away and says wow. So let's go back to the unpleasant part of the story. You're falsely accused, you spend time in prison, did you know this girl?

BANKS: Yeah, we actually went to middle school together as well as high school.

KING: And why do you think she decided to accuse you?

BANKS: You know, we never really got the answer to that. There's been a few reasons that, you know, we came up to the conclusion, but what it really came downto is she didn't want her parents to know she was sexually active.

KING: And now you sit here with the word "exonerated." Take us back to that day in the courtroom where the judge says you were exonerated. You think what?

BANKS: It was just mixed emotions. I think a bit of everything. Just bittersweet to have this finally be over with, to finally have my name cleared and to have my life back but to also reflect on everything I had gone through just to get to that point. It's been a 10-year struggle, so I'm just happy to be free now.

ROSE: Do you like your chances for being able to play football?

BANKS: I do. I really do like my chances and it's still alive and well, the dream is still in pursuit, and I thank the California Innocence Project and my lawyer Justin Brooks for allowing me to have this opportunity at giving football another shot.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.