BRIAN BANKS

I had a good upbringing.

After five years in prison, five years on parole, and a total of 10 years of being in hell, I can look back on it all and say I played in four NFL games. It's incredible.

There are many innocent people in prison.

I have to share my story. Not for me, but for the people who might go through the same thing and for juveniles who have gotten in trouble.

Just to be on the sideline and to hear all the veterans tell you, 'Man, when your turn comes, when they call your number, just play.' Just the support and love from everybody is more than I can ask for.

From the perspective of everything I went through to have played in four NFL games, it was one of the best experiences of my life.

I will exhaust every opportunity there is in football.

Football was a dream, an opportunity once taken from me - something I thought I'd never be able to do again.

For me, I just want to be positive.

I want to be in a better position than what I was yesterday. The only way that can happen is by eliminating any negative ill will or feelings toward anyone.

To make a 53-man roster would be a huge accomplishment - right up there with getting exonerated for a crime I didn't commit.

There was a time when I had nothing. I lost everything.

People ask, 'Do I have trust issues?' I wouldn't say I have trust issues. I have trust concerns. It's valuable for me to trust a person in particular.

You can do nothing, or you can take on the challenge of taking on the adversity. You have got to have faith. You have to have faith in whatever you believe in.

There's just so much I want to do in life. Part of that is to use my story and use my experiences to give back to other people.

People see me as something I'm not.

The biggest thing you must remember is the mindset you have - what were the initial things you said to yourself as a young kid? Everything you said, that's who you are.

You have to realize that myself and others that have been wrongfully convicted of crimes, we've dealt with the situation. You realize that you're not going to survive in prison or progress as a human being if you allow yourself to continue to hold on to this negative energy.

Behind bars, everyone's an inmate. Everybody has their skeletons; everybody has their story.

If the NFL is going to be responsible for what someone is doing in their personal life, there may need to be preventative work early against the incidents that are happening.

Football is just one part of me. It's not the be-all, end all.

I think of my mother constantly. And how she sacrificed her home and car for my freedom.

The physical aspects of the game, it's probably the highlight for me. It's a way for me to get a lot of anger and stress off of my shoulders.

When we look at our justice system, we have this image of a balancing scale: truth and justice, right and wrong. But for years, our system has been lopsided, where it's not about truth and justice or balance. It's about being tough on crime, and sometimes that means you're putting the wrong person behind bars.

To be stripped of your freedom, to be stripped of your dignity and the respect you once had, to lose it all and then see life pass you by while you're sitting inside a prison cell, to wake up one day and get it all back - it's a very humbling feeling.