Josh Jacobs, Former Teammate Of Henry Ruggs, Says The WR Is Training In Prison For An NFL Comeback

Henry Ruggs is trying to make an unlikely and improbably NFL comeback.

Back in 2023, former Alabama and NFL standout wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to 3-10 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. The sentence stemmed from a tragic incident in 2021, where Ruggs was found to be driving 156 miles per hour while under the influence when his vehicle struck the vehicle of 23-year-old Tina Tintor. The vehicle immediately burst into flames and both Tina and her dog were killed in the blaze.

Naturally, as Ruggs serves his prison sentence, we haven’t heard much out of him in the sports world. That changed yesterday though, when Ruggs’ former teammate (both at Alabama and with the Raiders) Josh Jacobs spoke with Ryan Clark on his The Pivot Podcast.

The talented running back, now with the Green Bay Packers, revealed that he and Henry Ruggs still stay in touch, and that when he had first heard about the tragic accident, he felt a lot of anger towards the situation:

“I instantly get mad. And then when I start finding out more about the story and about how they were supposed to be racing. I’m like, ‘Who was he with?’ But he was with his family. So I went to his house. I had some words with some people over there, and I’m just like, ‘Man, y’all got to understand, like, he the breadwinner of the family. He the one changing all of y’all’s lives. Everybody.’

And then not only that, he’s a good kid. He’s never been in trouble. I’ve never seen him do nothing crazy. He was just one of them guys that have a very, very unfortunate situation and something happened, a decision that he made. That’s what hurt me the most. Man, he isn’t somebody you would look at and be like, ‘Bro, you deserved this to happen to you.'”

Now, as Ryan Clark mentions in the clip below, Henry Ruggs has the chance to be released from prison in the next year or so. And from how Josh Jacobs talks about the conversations he has with the imprisoned 26-year-old, it sounds like Ruggs is hoping to make a comeback in the NFL.

Jacobs says that Ruggs has been training to stay in football shape, and he also stated that he’s told his former teammate to not just assume that NFL teams would welcome him back with open arms:

“Keeping up with him and hearing him talk, it brings me spirits, because he’s always positive. 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.’”

That being said, the Green Bay running back told Ryan Clark that he’s been putting out feelers for Ruggs with teams across the league. From what Jacobs says, there are a number of teams that could explore adding the former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver to their team:

“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.”

That would be quite the incredible NFL comeback if Henry Ruggs has actually been able to stay in football shape while serving time.

Though Jacobs insists that there are a couple of teams out there that would bring Ruggs on, but I’d imagine that a lot of NFL organizations would prefer to stay away from the media attention that could come with bringing on a player with vehicular manslaughter on his record. So I guess only time will tell if Ruggs has maintained enough to step right back into the league, and if anyone in NFL would be willing to let him do so.

You can hear Ryan Clark and Josh Jacobs talk more about it in the latest episode of The Pivot Podcast: