Henry Ruggs

Henry James Ruggs III (born January 24, 1999) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he was a member of the team that won the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship. Ruggs was selected by the Raiders in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.

During his second season, Ruggs caused a motor vehicle collision that killed the driver of another car. He was released by the Raiders the same day. Ruggs pled guilty to driving under the influence (DUI) resulting in death and vehicular manslaughter in 2023 and was sentenced to three to 10 years in a Nevada state prison. He is currently incarcerated at the Stewart Conservation Camp.

Early life
Ruggs grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. In the eighth grade, he was promoted to the varsity football team for the final two games of its season. He attended Robert E. Lee High School. He did not play high school football until his junior year and received his first scholarship offer after just his second game on the gridiron. As a senior, he had 38 catches for 639 yards in nine games. He scored 20 touchdowns: nine catches, seven rushes, three passes, and one kick return. Ruggs also played basketball and ran track in high school; his 100-meter dash time of 10.58 seconds was the Alabama High School Athletic Association's class 7A record. In 2017, 247Sports.com ranked him as the second-best high school football player in Alabama. Ruggs received scholarship offers from more than 20 colleges to play football; he chose the University of Alabama.

College career
As a true freshman at Alabama in 2017, Ruggs had 12 receptions for 229 yards and six touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2018, he had 46 receptions for 741 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a junior in 2019, he had 40 receptions for 746 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. During his junior season, Ruggs was also the team's primary kick returner and averaged 23.8 yards per return. His 24 total career receiving touchdowns places him third on Alabama's all-time leaderboard. On January 6, 2020, Ruggs announced that he would forgo his true senior year and enter the 2020 NFL draft.

Pre-draft
Ruggs ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine that was the year's fastest time by any prospect by .08 seconds, and it tied for the fourth-fastest ever at the event since electronic timing began in 1999. Ruggs' vertical jump was measured 42 inches, tied for second-best among wide receivers at the 2020 combine.

2020
At the 2020 NFL draft, Ruggs was the first wide receiver to be drafted. The Las Vegas Raiders selected him with the 12th overall pick, their first since moving from Oakland earlier in the year. Ruggs was also the Raiders' second consecutive first-round pick of a player from the University of Alabama, joining 2019 first round running back Josh Jacobs. On July 21, 2020, Ruggs signed a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $16.67 million, with a team option for a fifth year.

On September 13, 2020, Ruggs made his NFL debut in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, including making his first career catch. During Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ruggs recorded his first 100-yard game, with 118 receiving yards, which included his first career touchdown, a 72-yard reception. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 15, 2020, and activated on December 24. Ruggs finished his rookie year with 26 receptions, 452 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 13 games played.

2021
In the 2021 season, Ruggs had 24 receptions, 469 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in seven games.

Ruggs was released on November 2, 2021, the day he was involved in a drunk driving car crash which killed the other driver. His less-than-two-season stint with the Raiders totaled 20 games, 1,197 all-purpose yards, and four touchdowns.

Personal life
Ruggs credits his friend Roderic Scott with encouraging him to play football in high school. Scott died in a car crash at 17 years of age, and Ruggs would honor him with a three-fingered salute after every touchdown because Scott wore number 3 on the basketball court. Ruggs' brother Kevontae played college football for Ole Miss in 2018 before transferring to East Mississippi Community College in 2019.

In April 2020, Ruggs partnered with Three Square, a southern Nevada food bank, to donate meals to those in need because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 7, 2020, Ruggs' daughter was born to his long-term girlfriend Rudy Washington.

2021 fatal car crash
On November 2, 2021, Ruggs rear-ended another car at high speed in Spring Valley, outside of Las Vegas. Twenty-three year old Tina Tintor and her dog Max were burned to death in the fatal collision, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and county prosecutors. Ruggs was charged with driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless driving.

Hours before the incident, Ruggs and his girlfriend, Kiara Kilgo-Washington, were seen drinking at a Topgolf location on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise. They left after midnight in his Chevrolet Corvette. Police produced digital evidence shortly thereafter showing that, at approximately 3:39 a.m., driving 156 mph, Ruggs attempted to panic-stop the Corvette as he approached the Toyota RAV4 driven by Tintor, but lost control, slamming into her at 127 mph. The Clark County Coroner determined that Tintor and her dog burned to death as her vehicle was engulfed in flames following the collision.

Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were transported to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMCSN) with non-life-threatening injuries.

Legal proceedings
Upon his release from the hospital, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department booked him into the Clark County Detention Center. Ruggs appeared in court the following day, and Judge Joe M. Bonaventure set bail at $150,000.

Police reports showed that Ruggs had refused to take a field sobriety test, and his blood test, taken two hours following the crash, revealed a blood alcohol content of 0.161%, more than twice the legal limit in Nevada. Ruggs' defense attorney, David Chesnoff, argued that Ruggs was unable to submit a field sobriety test because of his injuries sustained in the accident, and claimed that the blood test should not be admissible as evidence since the police did not have probable cause to obtain a blood test. Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman rejected Chesnoff's arguments and ruled the blood test admissible as evidence in the case.

On May 10, 2023, as part of a plea agreement, Ruggs pleaded guilty to one count of felony DUI resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Prosecutors said they reached a plea deal due to concerns the blood draw would be thrown out, and with it the only evidence to support the felony DUI charge. They were not willing to chance Ruggs only facing charges of reckless driving, which could have only resulted in probation. He was sentenced on August 9, 2023, to spend between three and ten years at High Desert State Prison in Nevada.

Response
The Las Vegas Raiders released Ruggs later on November 2, 2021.

Various football players and coaches made public statements. Derek Carr, a former Raiders teammate, said Ruggs needs to be loved and that "if no one else will do it, I'll do it". Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia said, "We want to express our sincere condolences to the victim's family". Kadarius Toney of the New York Giants drew criticism for seeming to ignore the gravity of the situation and excuse Ruggs when he tweeted, "We young…..everybody make mistakes… he know he messed up don't drag em for it……that's goofy to me…." Nick Saban, who coached Ruggs on the Alabama Crimson Tide college football team, said, "We're going to support him through it, but we also have a lot of compassion for the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are also with them."

Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, who both played with Ruggs at Alabama, also spoke on the matter. Tagovailoa said, "You'd never think this guy could hurt a soul, so when you see something like that – I mean, I'm still kind of in disbelief. But, obviously my heart goes out to the family that has been affected by it. But my heart also goes out to Henry as my teammate, ex-teammate." Hurts said, "It's unfortunate to see a situation like that unfold, and I'll just kind of leave it at that. It hurts my heart for everybody involved."

Other NFL players involved in DUI manslaughter incidents

 * Jeff Alm
 * Donté Stallworth
 * Josh Brent