PHILADELPHIA — Accounts of Henry Ruggs’ fiery, high-speed crash killing a 23-year-old lady and her canine had been viral when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni distributed with the harmless till confirmed responsible routine to have a coronary heart to coronary heart together with his gamers Wednesday.
Two Sundays in the past the Eagles had been defending towards speedy Raiders vast receiver Ruggs in Las Vegas. On Tuesday, Ruggs, the previous roommate, confidante and teammate of Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith at Alabama and former faculty teammate of Jalen Hurts and Landon Dickerson, drove his Corvette, in accordance with authorities, at a velocity of 156 mph into the again of a Toyota Rav4 early within the morning a number of miles west of the Las Vegas strip. The sufferer was recognized Wednesday as Tina Tintor.
Ruggs’ blood alcohol degree was twice the authorized restrict, in accordance with authorities. His profession as knowledgeable soccer participant is successfully over, the Raiders rapidly releasing him. He faces as much as 46 years in jail once you add the felony DUI’s, the reckless driving, and the gun fees he faces, police discovering a loaded weapon inside what was left of the ‘Vette.
Ruggs is getting off straightforward. Think about the lives of Tintor’s household and buddies. The deep damage, the trauma. A mom now not has a daughter. A father is with out his daughter. Who pays for that?
“If there’s something that could possibly be troubling a few of your gamers or one thing that must be addressed, it is advisable to tackle that,” Sirianni mentioned earlier than follow. “I addressed it in our group assembly. Actually extra in regards to the information of it. Once more, all I care about is that these guys are protected, and that’s all our group cares about, is that these guys are protected and so they know the assets that they’ve. Anytime one thing like that occurs we’re going to tackle it as a group and never be passive about it and speak via the problems which are on the market, whether or not it’s with this group or the NFL typically.”
Within the coming weeks we’ll be bombarded with heartless opinions of how the tragedy may have been prevented, which misses the purpose. You get right into a high-performance automobile and check its limits after you’ve been consuming and you set everybody round you in danger. You’re a missile in search of one thing to wreck. You let someone drive once they’ve been consuming and also you’re virtually as reckless as they’re. It gained’t be lengthy earlier than those that had been round Ruggs earlier than the deadly crash come ahead with their accounts of what occurred.
Even at 3:40 a.m., when the crash occurred, there could possibly be eyewitnesses who noticed or heard one thing. Each bit of knowledge leaked out, each information report true or unfaithful goes to be a intestine shot to household and buddies of the deceased.
Ruggs’ passenger, his girlfriend, was severely injured. Ruggs was arraigned in a wheelchair carrying a neck brace, his nostril break up open. The Vette was destroyed all the way in which to the windshield, which implies a lot of the motor, that huge engine churning out lots of of horsepower was lodged within the Toyota. And a 23-year-old lady and her canine are lifeless.
All Ruggs’ former teammates with the Eagles can do is pray.
Pray for the younger lady whose life was taken away. Pray for her household and sure, pray for Ruggs.
Hurts confirmed the sensitivity that’s endeared him to teammates when requested about Ruggs, the higher classman he couldn’t outthrow in a sport.
“I give my condolences to the household of the younger girl that handed away,” Hurts mentioned. “It’s unlucky to see a scenario like that unfold and I’ll form of depart it at that. It hurts my coronary heart for everyone concerned.”
The nightmare has simply begun for Ruggs and the household of the sufferer. Within the subsequent few weeks, they’ll discover it unattainable to dam out the questions that take over your ideas once you’ve misplaced a cherished one in a automobile crash.
What if Ruggs had taken a cab or Uber or Lyft as an alternative of moving into his automobile? What if he’d determined to spend the night time with buddies as an alternative of driving within the wee hours of the morning? Why on the planet did he have to drive so quick on a metropolis road? How may a call Ruggs and no one else made change so many lives within the blink of a watch? Why would the state even license a automobile that goes that quick to be used in a metropolis? What good are DUI legal guidelines?
This could be a very good time to have a look at what we worth as a society. Kudos to Sirianni for pausing the season to work via it together with his gamers, for harmless till confirmed responsible doesn’t fairly lower it for a few of society’s victims.
Contact Bob Grotz at rgrotz@delcotimes.com; you possibly can observe him on Twitter @BobGrotz.
