By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
One of the lessons that Franklin’s Bubba Banks has learned on the football field this year is how to adapt to circumstances and roll with the punches. Banks (5’10”, 160 lbs) by nature is a talented wide receiver and defensive back for the Quakers’ football team, but in his leadership role with the team, he has, by necessity, become an all-purpose player to help his team remain competitive.
“This year, I moved around a lot,” says Banks. “But my original positions are receiver and [defensive back]. This year I have played quarterback, I have played the running back position, pretty much an all-purpose athlete.”
Despite the adversities of being a leader in a program that is rebuilding, Banks is focused on leaving a legacy for his younger teammates to follow and creating an opportunity for himself to get ahead in life.
“My motivation revolves around thinking about my future, putting my potential kids in a better situation than I grew up in,” says Banks. “Also, I think about my brother. My brother passed away in my freshman year. Every game I go out and I think about him, I pray to God real quick, and then I play for him.”
As a leader, Banks’ philosophy is centered around the advice his father gave him at a young age.
“My dad always said when I first started playing was always give 100 percent effort and have no regrets,” says Banks. “I think that’s my biggest philosophy: to have no regrets when I walk off the field. I mean, everybody makes mistakes, but regret is something you can’t get back.”
Born and raised in Seattle, Banks followed in his older brother’s footsteps when it came to his love of football. However, Banks admits that he was unsure if he actually wanted to play at first. But going to his brother’s practices, and having the coaches allow him to learn the game, provided him with an opportunity to overcome those fears.
“I think I was about six,” says Banks, referring to when he was first introduced to football. “I was a bit scared; I didn’t want to get hurt, and one day the coach let me practice with my brother’s team. After that, you can say I fell in love with the sport.”
According to Banks, Seattle’s NW Premier Junior Football League is where he and other young football players in the area developed their skill sets. Banks would face tough competition week in and week out, and as he rose through the ranks, Banks would find success as he played for the league championship three times.
“I played for the Rainier Eagles, Rainier Ravens, and the Junior Seahawks,” Banks recalls. “And I won a championship with the Junior Seahawks. We went to the championship three years in a row when I was eight, nine, and ten, and we won when I was nine.”
While Banks is not particular about which college he wants to attend, he does have a slight leaning towards the University of Oklahoma when it comes to football.
“If I could go anywhere to play, it would be Oklahoma University,” says Banks. “I am a big Sooners fan, and my family is from Ardmore, a small town in Oklahoma.”
“I have also been really inspired by HBCUs like Morehouse and Norfolk State University because I really have an interest in being around my culture,” proclaims Banks. “I am really not picky about it; I just want to be able to make it out and go to college.”
With the current Franklin football roster filled with juniors and sophomores, the team relies heavily on Banks for leadership. Recognizing that overcoming adversity and making mistakes are part of the process of growth and maturity, Banks makes it a point to instill in his teammates not only the importance of competing and winning but also that when you make mistakes, you have to learn from them and move on.
“One of the biggest challenges of leadership is when a mistake is made; sometimes our team can get down on ourselves,” says Banks. “I can be like, alright, that was that play; it’s in the past; let’s forget about it and move on to the next play.”
For Banks, as much as he loves the game, the game is a means to a much bigger picture. Through sacrifices and hard work, Banks uses sports so that after all is said and done, he has placed himself in a better place than where he began.
“I have sacrificed a lot in my life for football,” says Banks. “Those sacrifices will put me in a better place than what statistics would say as a Black man would be. With not many positive role models, I’ve sacrificed a lot, and at the end of the day, whether I go far in football or not, I feel like I have defied the odds.”
