Henry Ruggs speaking (Photo via YouTube)
Former NFL wide receiver Henry Ruggs once had it all and threw it all away in one night.

Henry Ruggs was a highly-touted prospect from Alabama who was drafted 12th overall by the Raiders in 2020. His promising career would end after he was involved in a fatal accident in Las Vegas.

According to police, an intoxicated Ruggs was driving his car at 150 miles per hour, way in excess of the speed limit. The Corvette he was driving struck the back of a Toyota SUV that resulted in the latter going airborne before it caught fire, 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹ing the female occupant and her dog.

Ruggs was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison as a result of a charge of driving under the influence that resulted in d3ath.

On Tuesday, Ruggs was granted a special release to speak to a group at a Hope for Prisoners event.

Henry Ruggs was asked at the event what he would say to Tintor’s family.

“One, I wish I could turn back the hands of time,” he said in a video taken by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I would love for them to meet the real Henry Ruggs and not the one that was escaping from something. I sincerely apologize for not only being a part of that situation, but the fact my face is always in the news, it’s always in the newspaper. So they have to constantly be reminded of the situation, be reminded of me.”

Ruggs, a former first-round draft pick, will be eligible for parole in August 2026, and his former teammate, Josh Jacobs, has said the 26-year-old has hopes of returning to the NFL upon his release.

Tintor’s mother issued a statement when Ruggs was sentenced in 2023.

“We pray that Henry Ruggs is blessed with the opportunity to be able to watch his beautiful daughter grow into the amazing woman she can be,” Mirjana Komazec, Tintor’s mother, said in a statement read by a family member in court. “And we pray that this terrible accident inspires positive change in the world. We pray that we all take away the importance of looking out for one another, remembering everyone we meet is another human’s loved one.”

POWERFUL: FORMER NFL STAR HENRY RUGGS WAS GRANTED A SPECIAL RELEASE TO SPEAK AT A HOPE FOR PRISONERS EVENT

“I wish that I could turn back the hands of time”

“Wish that they could meet the real Henry Ruggs, not the guy who was running away from everything”pic.twitter.com/jcT3kkM1FY

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) June 18, 2025

Can Henry Ruggs Make it Back To The NFL?

Henry Ruggs is spending time in prison after pleading guilty to felony 𝐃𝐔𝐈 causing d3ath as a result of the crash that saw him slam his car into the vehicle of 23-year-old Tina Tintor before it caught fire.

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that his NFL career was finished after the Raiders promptly released him.

Once his time is done, there may be an outside chance that he will return to the league. However, he might need to sign with another league to show what he has left in the tank.

The Raiders picked Ruggs out of Alabama, making him the No. 12 overall pick in 2020. He joined three other Crimson Tide players in the first round of the draft that year, with Tua Tagovailoa, Jerry Jeudy, and Jedrick Williams also getting selected.

Ruggs played 20 games for Vegas prior to the accident. The team released him on the same day of the crash.

Fearne Cotton has broken her silence on split from husband Jesse Wood in her first TV interview since the breakup.

Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday’s episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw.

Fearne announced her split from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood, in December after 10 years of marriage.

She has since made swipes at Jesse and moved on with TV director Elliot Hegarty, with the pair having been seen kissing during a recent night out.

Fearne has had a difficult few months after undergoing surgery to remove two benign tumours from her jawline, just days before her split with Jesse emerged.

She told host Lorraine: ‘It’s all very amicable and kids are doing great. I am in a very good place.’place.’

+8
View gallery

Fearne Cotton has broken her silence on split from husband Jesse Wood in her first TV interview since the breakup

+8
View gallery

Fearne announced her split from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood , in December after 10 years of marriage (both pictured in February 2024)

Discussing her recent surgery, she added: ‘I feel very grateful to have completely recovered.

‘I feel really good. I have a lot of people reaching out who have had the same thing.’

Davina McCall, 56, announced in November she’d been diagnosed with a colloid cyst, a rare type of benign brain tumour, and has supported Fearne.

She continued: ‘Everyone needs a Davina. She’s been amazing, weird that we had the same health thing going on at the same time. She’s so calming and we speak every day. She is just the best

It comes after Fearne has seemingly made another thinly-veiled dig at her ex-husband as she gushed that she is the happiest she’s ever been in a positive update.

Speaking to Scott Mills on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, Fearne gushed that she is ‘really happy’ and is ‘springing out of bed in the morning ready for life’.

Scott, who has known Fearne for 25 years, said he has never seen her ‘more positive or happier’, prompting Fearne to agree and reply: ‘Yeah I feel great!’

She told how her health scare has changed her outlook and said she has been seeking comfort from Davina.

+8
View gallery

Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday’s episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw

+8
View gallery

It comes after Fearne has seemingly made another thinly-veiled dig at her ex-husband as she gushed that she is the happiest she’s ever been in a positive update

‘I’m really happy and I think when you’ve had a health thing like that it does just give you this baseline gratitude where you just feel, you know I have talked to Davina a hell of a lot as our operations were within a month of each other which so weird,’ she continued.

‘We’ve had so many brilliant chats about yeah just feeling very grateful for the basics and sort of springing out of bed in the morning ready for life so yeah I’m feeling good I’ve got lots of exciting stuff happening this year so I’m ready for it!’

Reflecting on her health scare, Fearne said she is ‘massively grateful’ because she didn’t think the lump was anything to worry about, before learning it was a tumour.

‘I went for an ultrasound and it ended up being a tumour, which was obviously a big surprise,’ she explained.

‘Now I feel absolutely great I’m really grateful and you know go and get those lumps and bumps checked out if you’ve got them it’s really really important.

‘I really thought this is going to be a non-event and it ended up being you know major surgery, but I’m healthy and feeling great and just massively grateful.’

Fearne had the benign tumour removed just days before her split from her husband Jesse – who she shares her son Rex and daughter Honey with – emerged.

‘It is with a heavy heart that I let you all know that Jesse and I are ending our marriage,’ the radio host said in an online post at the time, saying their priority would ‘always be’ their children.

Fearne is also stepmother to Jesse’s children Arthur, 21, and Lola, 18, from his first marriage to Tilly Wood.

Jesse, 48, has since moved on his former actress and model, Gemma Gregory, 39, who now works in the wellness business and hosts the Happy Place podcast.

Meanwhile, Fearne is said to have been secretly dating TV director Elliot Hegarty since January.

Their romance emerged when they were seen passionately kissing on a night out in Soho before they walked hand-in-hand while accompanied by friends.

The single mother, 51, was said to be ‘totally shocked and devastated because she only knew that Elliot and Fearne were friends’ and a friend told the Mail: ‘It was an awful way for her to find out and it has been quite ghastly for her.’

Fearne recently spoke about wanting to have a ‘burst of fun’ and ‘go and get p***ed’ following the end of her marriage.

+8
View gallery

Fearne has since moved on with TV director Elliot Hegarty (pictured in September), with the pair having been seen kissing during a recent night out

+8
View gallery

Fearne has also had a difficult few months after undergoing surgery to remove two benign tumours from her jawline, just days before her split with Jesse emerged

Speaking to Women’s Health UK, Fearne made a swipe at her ex-husband as she told how she has ‘missed out on having fun’.

She shared: ‘I’ve dedicated the past 12 years to being a mum and building Happy Place [the award-winning podcast and wellness festival Fearne launched in 2018] I still want to do all of that, but I’ve been missing out on just having fun.

‘Now I’m in my forties, I want more fun; to see mates, have lunches at my house and cook for everyone, go on little nights out and dinners and not care so much about getting back late.’

The couple had reportedly faced challenges for several years, with Fearne previously admitting that their marriage had been ‘suffering’ as far back as 2019.

Speaking at the time, Fearne said Jesse’s demanding schedule with his band Reef had put a strain on their relationship which left them desperately ‘clinging onto their marriage’ in an unearthed interview.

Fearne and Jesse tied the knot in July 2014 three years after they started dating. They met while partying in Ibiza the year after his split from his first wife Tilly.