Photo from Google Images
Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a Brandon Banks jersey.
If you have to ask who is Brandon Banks, you are getting coal in your stocking.
While most fans have been too absorbed in the inconsistency of McNabb or Albert Haynesworth salary, I have kept my eyes on the undrafted wide receiver from Kansas State. A 5’7, 150 pound (his hair could account for 10 lbs) speedster rookie; Brandon Banks! There’s just something about him that is electrifying and brings a hope to the Washington Redskins and to the NFL. Every time he comes on to the field I feel his energy, I see his passion and I want him to win!
I can’t help but jump out of my seat and yell for him. At Sunday’s game I was yelling “COME ON LIL MAN” and the Vikings fan that sat in front of me told me I like Banks because he is little- like me (I’m only 5’0 and like Banks I’ve never felt as short as people say I am). I responded that I like Banks because he is The Man! He continued to cover his ears every time Banks was on the field.
When Banks had a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown during the fourth quarter that was called back for an illegal block in the back from rookie linebacker Perry Riley, my heart broke. Not just because it could have been the game winning TD, but because this was the second time in the past four games a touchdown has been taken away from Banks.
In the NFL there is about a 1 in 165 odds of converting a punt return into a touchdown and a 1 and 269 odds that a kickoff return will result into a touchdown. The average NFL player is over six feet tall and averages 248 pounds. Brandon Banks’ size may not have attracted a lot of NFL scouts, but he is certainly getting a double take from special teams coordinators as they prepare for the Redskins.
Among the NFL’s punt return yards leaders, Banks ranks 4th and he ranks 9th in returning yards. Against the Lions, Banks set a franchise record by earning 271 return yards. But in the fourth quarter his 96-yard kickoff return was his first career touchdown and the first for the Redskins in last seventy games.
Brandon Banks is definitely a weapon for the Redskins. If he has the ball and sees an opening, put your money on Banks- he is fearless and his speed gives a little Brandon Banks the Washington Redskins the best chance for a big return.