Exonerated 26-year-old linebacker Brian Banks' whirlwind NFL tour has reached its most important stop. Banks is in Seattle for the Seahawks' three-day minicamp.
It remains a long shot that Banks will wind up going to training camp with a team after a decade away from the game, including five years spent in jail. If it's going to happen, however, this is his best shot.
"Obviously there's a little rust out there," Seahawks linebackers coach Ken Norton said. "But the idea is can he line up and can he chase the ball? So far, it's about making a first impression, and I like the first impression he left."
So ... you're saying there's a chance?
"Does he look like a ballplayer? Yes," Norton said. "Does he move well? Yes. Is there a chance? Absolutely."
Sometimes it's all about what quotes you choose. We read those quotes in the Seattle Times and felt optimistic about Banks. Then we read more quotes from Norton on the Seahawks' official website.
"This is the NFL -- the best of the best -- so it's going to be really tough for (Banks). Just the fact that he came out here and gave it a shot and didn't shy away from it, you've got to give him a plus for that," he said. "But again, this is the best of the best, the highest level of athlete, and he's been out of it for 10 years. So it's going to be really, really tough. … Right now, he has a chance. But it's going to be really, really tough."
That's a little more realistic. If nothing else, Banks already is used to beating the odds. Nothing about his story is realistic, yet it's all true.
