Don Banks covers the NFL beat for SI.com. Prior to joining the Web site in March 2000, he spent a decade as an award-winning newspaper journalist in Florida and Minnesota. Banks covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times from 1990-96, and the Minnesota Vikings for the Minneapolis Star Tribune (1996-99) and the St. Paul Pioneer Press (1999-2000).

Born in Coatesville, Pa., and raised in St. Petersburg, Banks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of South Florida in 1984.

Among the awards Banks has won are two Associated Press Sports Editors awards for excellence in sports journalism, and several state-level awards in both Florida and Minnesota.