Ex NFL Falcons Player Exonerated After Wrongful Rape Conviction Hosts TV Show Helping Others

Imagine you’re 16 years old, in high school, an intelligent, handsome, popular student with a USC football scholarship ahead of you…your WHOLE LIFE ahead of you...and it all comes crashing down with one false accusation. 

Brian Banks is more than just the host of show about true crime…he’s a statistic. He was wrongfully convicted of raping a classmate and after being sentenced, he went to prison on his 18th birthday. 

"I was taken away from my mom, my freedom, my football team, my family," he said. It was utter devastation. He felt "helpless and afraid."

Thank goodness, he was exonerated with the help of the California Innocence Project. After spending years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, he’s sharing his story in the hopes of helping others.

In his upcoming Oxygen series, Final Appeal, Banks’ mission is to educate the public about this all-too-common turn of events. The groundbreaking series follows the football star and exoneree and former prosecutor Loni Coombs as they work to uncover the truth behind contentious cases that may have led to wrongful convictions.

Wanetta Gibson, the woman whose fake claim of rape sent Banks to prison, was ordered to pay a $2.6 million judgment in connection with the case in 2013.

In an exclusive interview with Megyn Kelly on TODAY, Banks told the stunning story of how Gibson tried to reconnect with him on Facebook, “wanting to hang out.” #WTF ???

The whole story of what happened to Banks is just jaw-dropping. Check it out above.

Final Appeal premiered on January 7 and has gotten great reviews. ICYMI here’s a link to the show.

Here's to Banks for not only turning his own life around after the horrible injustice, but for trying to help others stuck in the same situation. 

#FinalAppeal