Immediately after defeating the Washington Commanders, 31-19, at FedEx Field in Week 11, New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks went viral.
But it wasn’t a big play or a monster hit that made Banks go viral. Rather, it was an expletive-laden postgame video the rookie had shared from the locker room in which he attacked the Commanders for passing on him in the 2023 NFL draft.
Banks also took aim at Commanders’ superstar wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
“Coulda came and got me at 16, and they didn’t. Now I’m 2-0 against you bum (expletive) boys,” Banks said in the video. “(Expletive) the Commanders. They think they slick. They finna see me two times a year until the end of my career. Two times a year. Shoulda came and got me.
“I’m just tryna figure out, though, did 17 play today? That’s all I want to know. Did he play today? I just wanna know if he played.”
Unsurprisingly, Banks’ viral rant did not go over well with head coach Brian Daboll, who took his cornerback aside to address the situation.
“Yeah, we don’t want to do that,” Daboll told reporters, adding that their conversation will remain “private.”
Banks also addressed the video, attempting to walk back some of what he said while acknowledging that he let his coach and teammates down by acting unprofessionally.
“As soon as it came out, I was like ‘I didn’t even mean to do all of that.’ That’s not what really what I really meant to do,” Banks said. “It was just a bad decision on my part. (Daboll) always talks about just being a real professional on my end. It was just a bad decision by me, that’s all.
“It’s a lesson learned for me. That’s never happened to me before like just to be thrown out like that. It’s just a lesson learned.”
Although Banks seemed genuinely hurt by his hometown team passing him over in the draft, he insists that’s not the case.
“I wouldn’t say it genuinely hurt me, but like you’re sitting there, kind of waiting, just have to wait longer that’s all. I wouldn’t say anything about it hurting me,” he said.
Ultimately, Banks says, the whole thing was an “accident” and it won’t happen again.
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