During a speech Alabama head coach Nick Saban gave on leadership, he mentioned how he wished someone would have stepped up and been a leader to Henry Ruggs on the night of his deadly car accident in Las Vegas back in November.
As the story goes, Ruggs, who was in his second year on the Raiders, got behind his 2020 Corvette while heavily intoxicated, all while driving at 156 mph before he eventually got into a wreck with 24-year-old Vegas resident Tina Tintor, who died behind the wheel after her car caught on fire.
Saban, who was giving a speech to the Alabama Football Coaches Association said a lot of people in today's society are afraid to display leadership qualities and referred to the friends around Ruggs who could've potentially stopped any of this from happening.
“People are more apprehensive about being leaders than they’ve ever been before because they’re worried about what everybody thinks” Saban said. “If there was a player in Las Vegas who was drinking at 3 o’clock in the morning with his buddies and his girlfriend and somebody would’ve taken his keys away, it probably would’ve pissed him off. It probably would’ve made him mad. He probably wouldn’t have thought very much of you for doing that. But would he be better off now, or is he better off where he was going 156 miles an hour running his ass into somebody and killing them?”
Saban does have a point. We know for a fact that Ruggs was with his girlfriend and we know he left a party before attempting to drive so it could have all ben avoided if someone played mom and stopped him from driving that night.
The former Alabama standout was heavily intoxicated, driving with a BAC of .161 which was more than double the legal limit. Following the crash, Ruggs was cut by the Raiders and is currently facing a felony DUI charge and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm while under the influence.
If convicted, Ruggs could be facing over 40 years in prison.
The seven-time National Championship coach wrapped us his comment on Ruggs by reiterating that despite his lapse in judgment, Ruggs is still a good kid, who doesn't have a career anymore because of something that the people around him could have helped avoid.
“And he doesn’t have a career anymore,” Saban said. “And he’s a good kid. He never had one problem on our team at Alabama. So what kind of friend were you, what kind of leader were you when you allowed the guy to do it? But nobody wants to do that because they’re afraid of what somebody’s going to think of them.”
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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