Free agent | |||||||||||
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Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Montgomery, Alabama | January 24, 1999||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Robert E. Lee (Montgomery, Alabama) | ||||||||||
College: | Alabama | ||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2020 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2021 | |||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com |
Henry James Ruggs III (born January 24, 1999) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He was a three-sport athlete in high school and played college football at Alabama. Ruggs was the fastest player at the 2020 NFL combine, and was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders with the twelfth pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
During his second NFL season, Ruggs was charged with driving under the influence after he was involved in a crash that killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog, on November 2, 2021. The Raiders released Ruggs later that day.
Henry James Ruggs III[1] grew up in Montgomery, Alabama.[2] In the eighth grade, Ruggs was promoted to the varsity football team for the final two games of their season.[2] He attended Robert E. Lee High School.[3] Ruggs did not play high school football until his junior year and received his first scholarship offer after just his second game on the gridiron.[2] As a senior, he had 38 catches for 639 yards in nine games.[4] He scored 20 touchdowns: nine catches, seven rushes, three passes, and one kick return.[5] Ruggs also played basketball and ran track in high school; his 100-meter dash time of 10.58 seconds is the Alabama High School Athletic Association's class 7A record.[6] In 2017, 247Sports.com ranked Ruggs as the second-best high school football player in Alabama.[7] Ruggs received scholarship offers from more than 20 colleges to play football; he chose the University of Alabama.[6][8][9]
As a true freshman at Alabama in 2017, Ruggs had 12 receptions for 229 yards and six touchdowns.[10] As a sophomore in 2018, he had 46 receptions for 741 yards and 11 touchdowns.[11][12] As a junior in 2019, he had 40 receptions for 746 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.[13] During his junior season, Ruggs was also the team's primary kick returner and averaged 23.8 yards per return.[13] His 24 total career receiving touchdowns places him third on Alabama's all-time leaderboard.[5] On January 6, 2020, Ruggs announced that he would forgo his senior year and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.[14]
Season | Team | Class | GP | Receiving | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||||
2017 | Alabama | FR | 14 | 12 | 229 | 19.1 | 6 |
2018 | Alabama | SO | 14 | 46 | 741 | 16.1 | 11 |
2019 | Alabama | JR | 12 | 40 | 746 | 18.7 | 7 |
Career | 40 | 98 | 1,716 | 17.5 | 24 |
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Wonderlic | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
188 lb (85 kg) |
30+1⁄2 in (0.77 m) |
10+1⁄8 in (0.26 m) |
4.27 s | 1.54 s | 2.52 s | 42.0 in (1.07 m) |
10 ft 11 in (3.33 m) |
20 | |||
All values from NFL Combine[16] |
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.[5][17] Ruggs' vertical jump was measured 42 inches, tied for second-best among wide receivers at the 2020 combine.[18]
At the 2020 NFL Draft, Ruggs was the first wide receiver to be drafted.[19] The Las Vegas Raiders selected him with the 12th overall pick, their first since moving from Oakland earlier in the year.[20] 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.[21] On July 21, 2020, the Raiders and Ruggs signed a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $16.67 million, with a team option for a fifth year.[22]
On September 13, 2020, Ruggs made his NFL debut in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, including making his first career catch.[23] 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.[24] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 15, 2020,[25] and activated on December 24.[26] Ruggs finished his rookie year with 26 receptions, 452 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 13 games played.[27]
In the 2021 season, Ruggs had 24 receptions, 469 yards, and two touchdowns in seven games.
Ruggs was released on November 2, 2021, following allegations of driving under the influence that led to a death.[28] His two-season stint with the Raiders totaled 20 games, 921 yards, and four touchdowns.[27]
Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||
2020 | LV | 13 | 13 | 26 | 452 | 17.4 | 72 | 2 | 9 | 49 | 5.4 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
2021 | LV | 7 | 7 | 24 | 469 | 19.5 | 61 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 20 | 20 | 50 | 921 | 18.4 | 72 | 4 | 12 | 65 | 5.4 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Ruggs credits his friend Roderic Scott with encouraging him to play football in high school.[7] Scott died in a car crash at 17 years of age, and Ruggs honors him with a three-fingered salute after every touchdown because Scott wore number 3 on the basketball court.[7] Ruggs’ brother Kevontae played college football for Ole Miss in 2018 before transferring to East Mississippi Community College in 2019.[29] In April 2020, Henry Ruggs partnered with Three Square, a southern Nevada food bank, to donate meals to those in need because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[30] On May 7, 2020, Ruggs’ daughter, Kenzli Re’Nai, was born to his long-term girlfriend Rudy Washington.[31][32][33]
On November 2, 2021, Ruggs rear-ended another car at high speed in Las Vegas, killing 23-year-old Tina Tintor, according to Las Vegas police and county prosecutors.[34] He has been charged with driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless driving.[35]
Hours before the incident, Ruggs and his girlfriend, Kiara Kilgo-Washington, were seen drinking at a Topgolf location in Las Vegas.[36] They left after midnight in his Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Police said that shortly thereafter, about 3:39 a.m. MT, Ruggs was driving 156 miles per hour (251 km/h). He attempted to brake as he approached a Toyota RAV4 being driven by Tintor, but slammed into it at 120 miles per hour (190 km/h), police said. Tintor and her dog initially survived the accident, but later died in the resulting fire.[37][38]
Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were transported to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMCSN) with non-life-threatening injuries.[39] Police said his blood alcohol content was measured at 0.161%, more than twice the legal limit in Nevada.[40] Upon his release, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department booked him into the Clark County Detention Center.[41] Ruggs appeared in court the following day, and Judge Joe M. Bonaventure set bail at $150,000.[42]
The Las Vegas Raiders released Ruggs within hours.[43]
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." Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia said, "We want to express our sincere condolences to the victim's family".[44] Kadarius Toney of the New York Giants tweeted, "everybody makes mistakes".[45] 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."[46]
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua 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.” Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen 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.”[47]
Presented content of the Wikipedia article was extracted in 2021-11-15 based on https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=60664225