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Anthony "Tony" Lamar Banks (born April 5, 1973 in San Diego, California) is a former professional American football quarterback.

High school years

Banks attended Hoover High School in San Diego, California, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball.

Post high school and college years

Banks played right field for the Minnesota Twins' Class A team in Ft. Myers, Florida, before enrolling at San Diego Mesa College in San Diego. He played there two years before transferring to Michigan State University.

Professional career

Banks was drafted in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams and soon found himself the starter. Three years of inconsistent play led to his trade to the Baltimore Ravens. In Baltimore he would again prove talented but inconsistent which would lead to his benching in favor of Trent Dilfer during the Ravens 2000 Super Bowl Championship year. He was released in the off-season. Leading into the 2001 season, Banks was signed by the Dallas Cowboys to replace the recently released and later retired Troy Aikman; however, on August 15, 2001, Banks was abruptly released by the Cowboys who chose instead to go with rookie Quincy Carter. Later that year, he signed with the Washington Redskins during Marty Schottenheimer's one year tenure as head coach. While he was with the Redskins, he became the first quarterback to go from an 0-5 record to a 5-5 record. Starting in 2002, Banks was the second-string quarterback for the Houston Texans behind David Carr.

On February 28, 2006, Banks was released by the Houston Texans.

External links

• Banks's biography, from NFLPlayers.com
• Current Stats
• More Current Stats