Brian Banks

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

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.

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.

I feel my situation is no different from anybody else's experiences.

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

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.

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

I studied and grew as a man so that the situation of being wrongly accused wouldn't define me.

All the negativity that was once around me has turned into all this positivity.

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.

It's not what you go through, but how that experience affects you. For some people, it could be a near car crash that changes your life. For other people, it could take five years of going to prison for them to realize they need change in their life. So it's not really the experience but more how the experience affects you.

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.