Brian Banks; Football Star Who Was Wrongfully Accused Shares His Story With The Morning Culture! — Transcript

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1. 0:00I saw the trailer for this movie and I
2. 0:02was like wow like I really got to see
3. 0:05that movie
4. 0:06it's like I really got it and you know
5. 0:08what and especially being here in
6. 0:09Atlanta where this is like the youth
7. 0:11football capital states there's so many
8. 0:15young students that find themselves in
9. 0:17advertently getting caught up in things
10. 0:19all the time and this is a story where
11. 0:22if you've got a son especially a
12. 0:24daughter even who is into sports this is
13. 0:28something you want to see Brian banks is
14. 0:29here with us right now thank you for
15. 0:31coming on the show brother you know I'm
16. 0:35seeing your story and having heard about
17. 0:37your story and now it's being turned
18. 0:39into words now a movie yeah is
19. 0:42incredible yeah you know so in case
20. 0:45people don't know so you're this star
21. 0:47linebacker right you're playing with
22. 0:51like guys on your team DeSean Jackson
23. 0:54and others you're like you're like
24. 0:55libels is saying you are the dopest
25. 0:58linebacker to come out of California
26. 1:00you're gonna take over college football
27. 1:03going to the pro league they already
28. 1:04seen your future Wow and then right
29. 1:07before it happens tell everybody what
30. 1:08happened yeah so I at that time I was
31. 1:11eleventh in the nation as a linebacker
32. 1:12on my way to USC on a full scholarship
33. 1:14and this was my senior year to summer
34. 1:17going into my senior and I chose to go
35. 1:20to a known makeout spot on my campus
36. 1:23with a girl that I've known since middle
37. 1:24school and we kiss we touch we made out
38. 1:27but we didn't have sex and by the end of
39. 1:29that day I was being arrested and
40. 1:31accused of kidnapping and sexual song I
41. 1:33was arrested that same day and by the
42. 1:36time they figured out it didn't happen
43. 1:37ten years of my life had passed on Wow
44. 1:41believable you know I'm almost scared as
45. 1:45you tell me that story because we've
46. 1:48heard that story play out
47. 1:49Genaro Wilson here in Atlanta yeah same
48. 1:52thing happened to him we've heard it so
49. 1:54many times why was it ten years like
50. 1:57what happened to make it ten years
51. 2:00yeah so the first thing was at the age
52. 2:03of 16 I was tried as an adult they felt
53. 2:06that the case was so serious that I had
54. 2:08to go to a doe court so I went from
55. 2:09facing normal camp time to 41 years to
56. 2:12life in prison
57. 2:13once that took place then it was this
58. 2:15whole back-and-forth of fighting a case
59. 2:16and my lawyer trying to get me to plea
60. 2:18out to some form of a deal to eventually
61. 2:21get into a point to where we were gonna
62. 2:22select a jury I was forced and pretty
63. 2:25much feared into taking a deal which was
64. 2:29supposed to be probation after 90 days
65. 2:31once I agreed to the deal and ended up
66. 2:34being six year sentence in prison
67. 2:36followed by five years of strict custody
68. 2:38parole and and by the time I got through
69. 2:42prison made my way out of the whole
70. 2:45parole situation and got back into court
71. 2:47for the appeal it had been 10 years this
72. 2:50is unbelievable unbelievable so I'm sure
73. 2:53people are people who don't know the
74. 2:55story are probably thinking to
75. 2:57themselves what was the race of the
76. 3:00woman that accused you she's black she
77. 3:02was black I grew up in the city of
78. 3:04Long Beach you know it was neighborhood
79. 3:06you know our people so yes she was young
80. 3:10black girl and you said you knew her
81. 3:11yeah since high school so what happened
82. 3:14what was her situation why why you know
83. 3:17that's a good question and it's
84. 3:19something that I don't know if I would
85. 3:20ever get the answer to but if it was my
86. 3:23guess it would be that she didn't want
87. 3:26certain people to know that she was
88. 3:28doing certain things on campus and so
89. 3:30instead of you know you know living the
90. 3:34life that she was I guess she decided to
91. 3:36go and say that you know I forced her
92. 3:38into doing it Wow all right we're joined
93. 3:40by another very very very special guest
94. 3:43who just walked in our studio the one
95. 3:45and only Sherri Shepherd is here with us
96. 3:47welcome to the morning culture Thank You
97. 3:50Frankie Jade Nova JR good to see you
98. 3:52again
99. 3:53the sunshine is I'm sorry I'm late I had
100. 3:56put on hair oh yeah Brian awesome mornin
101. 4:05good mornin know he was telling us the
102. 4:07background of hours of his story how did
103. 4:09you get involved I read the script and I
104. 4:13saw Leo me his mother and I it just
105. 4:17spoke to me because I have a son and I
106. 4:20said this could be Brian my son and her
107. 4:24faith spoke to me her resilience how
108. 4:28much he loved his mother like she just
109. 4:31was his rock in the script and I told my
110. 4:33agent I said oh my gosh I got it please
111. 4:36give me the audition and it was very
112. 4:38hard because people when they see you as
113. 4:40a funny sassy comedic girl to get an
114. 4:44audition for a drama it's really really
115. 4:46hard and I had and they didn't want to
116. 4:47see me and I had to fight there was a
117. 4:49lot of Prayer and I was like gosh can I
118. 4:51get in touch with the Brian banks
119. 4:53anybody and the literally they called me
120. 4:56into to audition and then I had to do a
121. 4:59bunch more but I just was really hoping
122. 5:02I just I never asked God to give me a
123. 5:05specific thing but I said I really want
124. 5:07this like this is the desire of my heart
125. 5:09I have to play this woman and then when
126. 5:13I went to met Leo me oh my god she just
127. 5:16she's this quiet kind of woman she I
128. 5:19call her like she's a quiet hero hmm and
129. 5:22she will say I didn't really do that
130. 5:23much you know but what you did spoke
131. 5:27volumes and just to sit with her and
132. 5:29listen to her speak she's about to get
133. 5:31her master's degree Wow this leo mate
134. 5:34she's she's a very smart woman and to
135. 5:37hear her story of how she tried so hard
136. 5:39to keep her kids out of trouble and she
137. 5:42put them into everything and even still
138. 5:46this happened Brian what was your
139. 5:49mother's initial reaction to this news I
140. 5:51think like any you know mom the first
141. 5:53thing when I finally got an opportunity
142. 5:55to get on the phone and talk to her the
143. 5:57first question was did you do it right I
144. 5:59said of course I didn't do it
145. 6:01no she's okay I had to ask you know now
146. 6:04let's let's go to work and trying to fix
147. 6:06this and I think we were just all new to
148. 6:09the system you know we had never done
149. 6:11with the court deal with the court
150. 6:12system before never dealt with an arrest
151. 6:14never dealt with you know plea bargains
152. 6:16and lawyers and none of it so it was all
153. 6:19new to us and I think if we kind of were
154. 6:20rushed along in the sense of you know
155. 6:23just take the take the advice of our
156. 6:25counsel and hope for the best
157. 6:27let's take a second real quick and
158. 6:29listen to the trailer from the movie by
159. 6:31the time I was 16 I had the attention of
160. 6:34the NFL but I wasn't cute or something I
161. 6:37do the system doesn't care about me but
162. 6:40you didn't deserve what happened to you
163. 6:41right quick if you do not overturn your
164. 6:44conviction you'll be a prisoner again we
165. 6:46need something extraordinary
166. 6:48it's extraordinary now I'm still
167. 6:50standing the truth Madison
168. 6:55I'll tell you what's extraordinary I am
169. 6:58it's amazing that this still happens and
170. 7:01I I'd like to jump on another question
171. 7:04but first I know you've been waiting
172. 7:05Junior yeah I mean that the Falcons gave
173. 7:08you your shot nobody had to give you a
174. 7:11shot nfo the Falcons gave you an
175. 7:13opportunity played in up in the
176. 7:14preseason and now you're working for the
177. 7:17league right in that capacity yeah so
178. 7:20you know being Atlanta's is like being
179. 7:22my second home you know I mean Atlanta
180. 7:26has always shown me love from the day
181. 7:27that I began pursuing the NFL post it's
182. 7:31on my exoneration so it's always good to
183. 7:34be here and and I'm always thankful for
184. 7:36the opportunity that they gave me to try
185. 7:39out and play for the Falcons and yeah
186. 7:42I'm still directly involved with the NFL
187. 7:43after the Falcons I had an opportunity
188. 7:45to work two years in the front office in
189. 7:48New York for the NFL under the
190. 7:50Commissioner Roger Goodell and now that
191. 7:54I'm focusing on this film my book just
192. 7:56came on July 2nd called what set me free
193. 7:58the NFL has joined us and pushing this
194. 8:02film out getting his film recognized
195. 8:04with you know with promotions and
196. 8:06marketing Roger Goodell our Commissioner
197. 8:09has definitely stepped up a big time to
198. 8:12make sure that people are aware of the
199. 8:14movie Brian bang so I can be thankful
200. 8:16enough for all that they're doing cool
201. 8:18that's awesome yeah so the question I
202. 8:20wanted to ask you you know in the midst
203. 8:22of what's been going on and the culture
204. 8:24sherry and our country with the with the
205. 8:26me to movement right right how do you
206. 8:29balance this with the me to movement
207. 8:32because you've been outspoken on that
208. 8:34mm-hmm I think it's it's really
209. 8:37difficult I think that you know it's a
210. 8:40slippery slope I know everybody says
211. 8:42believe all the victims but we still
212. 8:45have to there's some process we have to
213. 8:47go through because people lose their
214. 8:50livelihoods they lose their careers and
215. 8:52in Brian Banks's case because there was
216. 8:55no due diligence done nobody
217. 8:58investigated nobody no they didn't do
218. 9:00anything they just dragged him at 16
219. 9:03years away from his mother she couldn't
220. 9:05find him for two weeks they wouldn't
221. 9:07tell his mother where he was for two
222. 9:08weeks she didn't know the charges nobody
223. 9:11helped her this was a woman who was
224. 9:13either she was a schoolteacher at the
225. 9:15time who just she's looking for our son
226. 9:17and so I think that it's you can't put a
227. 9:20sweep everybody with this wide
228. 9:22paintbrush with me too so we have to be
229. 9:24very very careful because this is a
230. 9:26person's life as we saw with Brian banks
231. 9:29he lost a lot of his life being in
232. 9:31prison as a boy child he's a child
233. 9:35they forced him to make decisions on his
234. 9:37behalf he couldn't speak to his mother
235. 9:39he didn't make a decision about whether
236. 9:41to take a it was a plea deal you know
237. 9:44what was it no contest plea no contact
238. 9:47no contest which you know they get a lot
239. 9:49of men on that because it was sure they
240. 9:50don't want to go through the system and
241. 9:51I want to pay for the lawyers and and in
242. 9:54his case they told him he would be free
243. 9:56and he'd go to be back in school and he
244. 9:59got sentenced to six years so we have to
245. 10:00be very very careful with that
246. 10:03hmm Jade I just want to know how you
247. 10:06feel brother like now like how are you
248. 10:09on the inside I'm good on the inside and
249. 10:11the outside you know I I what got me
250. 10:16through prison was you know realizing
251. 10:18that I was not in control over things
252. 10:20that I was fighting for control of and I
253. 10:22had to find out what I could control in
254. 10:25an uncontrolled situation and that was
255. 10:27my emotions that I had to realize and
256. 10:30come to terms that I had control over my
257. 10:32emotions versus my emotions having
258. 10:34control over me and so I think that is
259. 10:37what began my process of dealing with
260. 10:40such a traumatic experience was
261. 10:42controlling the things that I could
262. 10:44control and knowing that no one will
263. 10:47work harder for me than me for the
264. 10:48things that I wanted in life so I had to
265. 10:50continuously can like push for the
266. 10:52things that I wanted and I couldn't
267. 10:54allow this one moment in time to dictate
268. 10:57the duration of my life so I wanted more
269. 10:59for me I did not fall victim to the
270. 11:02labels and accusations made against me
271. 11:04and I self educated myself I didn't
272. 11:07waste time when I was in there so today
273. 11:08I'm a happy man I'm home my mom is
274. 11:11smiling on it
275. 11:12everyday basis this this film is gonna
276. 11:15help so many people that are currently
277. 11:17voiceless as we all sit in this room
278. 11:19there are men and women that are behind
279. 11:21bars for crimes that they did not come
280. 11:23in so I feel like it was it was
281. 11:25important for me to not walk away from
282. 11:26this situation but to turn around reach
283. 11:29back into that dark hole and start
284. 11:30pulling other people out so if it takes
285. 11:33me reliving some experiences over again
286. 11:37via a movie in order to help others to
287. 11:39know I'll do that but I'm definitely in
288. 11:41a good space I'm sitting next to Sherri
289. 11:42Shepherd still because I would be on the
290. 11:47set and see this man who was smiling all
291. 11:49the time how do you forgive how do you I
292. 11:53can't imagine you know when you talk
293. 11:55about your purpose and walking in your
294. 11:57purpose if I if it was taken away from
295. 12:00me where I couldn't make people laugh or
296. 12:02it couldn't act when all I know how to
297. 12:04do is tight that's an extension of
298. 12:05waitress I don't have a memory my feet
299. 12:07of bad I don't understand what you do
300. 12:10and the fact that what we thought Brian
301. 12:12was supposed to do he would he you know
302. 12:14he was with USC or your full scholarship
303. 12:16what do you do when your life when your
304. 12:18purpose is taken away from you how do
305. 12:20you trust God
306. 12:21cuz I mean even talking to his mother
307. 12:23Leo me she said for it was her faith was
308. 12:25tested she didn't even know she just
309. 12:27stopped going to church for a minute
310. 12:28because you go you went that Lord I've
311. 12:30done all of the things that I'm supposed
312. 12:31to do as a mother and this is still
313. 12:34happening what it what is going on so
314. 12:35when I when I hear Brian I go Jesus all
315. 12:39right so Brian I got I got one more
316. 12:41question in 30 seconds how do you feel
317. 12:44that all this hard to played you you
318. 12:47know what that man deserves an award I
319. 12:51he didn't play me he didn't act me he
320. 12:55became me and I can't thank him enough
321. 12:57for for lending his skilled over to this
322. 13:02project he deserves an award for sure
323. 13:04Brian banks movie it is out coming out
324. 13:07next Friday August 9th Sherri Shepherd
325. 13:09thank you Brian banks thank you so much
326. 13:11thank you thank you