Former Raiders star Henry Ruggs still serves time in a Nevada correctional facility. However, he’s not just sitting around. He’s training for an NFL comeback.
Current Packers running back Josh Jacobs, who was Ruggs’ teammate in Las Vegas, says his friend spends his time behind bars training to play in the NFL once again.
“Keeping up with him and hearing him talk, it brings me spirits, because he’s always positive,” Jacobs said on Ryan Clark’s The Pivot Podcast. “He’s positive about everything. He’s training. They let him train and things like that, so I’m like, ‘When you come out, man, I don’t know if you will get a chance.’ I’ve been talking to some people for him. They’ve been saying a couple of teams are willing to give him a chance. I’m like, ‘When you get that chance, man, you better not ever — don’t look back, and prove to yourself and prove to everybody that one decision don’t define you and who you are as a man.’”
Josh Jacobs was supposed to go out with Henry Riggs on the night he was arrested. @iAM_JoshJacobs feels Tina Tintor’s death should’ve been avoided, & Henry Ruggs could be free. In his anger Jacobs expressed as much to Rugged’ family!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 30, 2025
Jacobs & Ruggs are still close. The two talk… pic.twitter.com/XufCJWWzNy
On November 2, 2021, Ruggs smashed his Corvette into a parked vehicle that contained 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog. The parked vehicle exploded into flames, killing the woman and her dog. Police reported that Ruggs had been traveling at speeds up to 156 mph and smelled of alcohol.
Ruggs pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled or prohibited substance resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. He is serving a 3-10 year sentence at the Casa Grande Transitional Housing in Las Vegas. The earliest possible date for parole is August 5, 2026.
A former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Raiders selected Ruggs 12th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. In his only complete season with Las Vegas, he caught 26 passes for 452 yards and two touchdowns.
