Cesar Ruiz was overcome with emotion after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced he was the New Orleans Saints selection with the 24th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Ruiz said the memory of his father, Cesar Edwin Ruiz, who died when he was just 8 years old, was on his mind in the moments after he was picked. His Dad was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. when he pulled over to help another driver in distress.
“My Dad’s passing was the reason why I play football,” he said. “…My mom had a fear of me going through depression; I wasn’t myself and, really, the main thing that helped me cope with that was football.”
Ruiz’s display of emotion was also spurred as the broadcast showed a photo of his father as his name was announced as the Saints pick.
“I dedicate this whole journey and everything I do to him,” Ruiz said. “And that’s the first thing that came to my head."
“And I looked on the screen and they’d put a picture of my Dad on the screen. So that’s really where the emotion came from.”
Ruiz added that he also was just simply excited and relieved at knowing he’d reached a lifelong dream.
“It was unbelievable,” he said.
Ruiz joins a Saints team that expects him to compete for a spot on the interior offensive line. Ruiz played center at Michigan, but Saints head coach Sean Payton said the 6-foot-3, 307-pound prospect is versatile enough to play guard as well.
“We weren’t drafting someone that high to come in and be a backup,” Payton said.
He added that the Saints were impressed with Ruiz’s football intellegence when they met with him at the combine.
Ruiz said he felt he’d made a good impression on the New Orleans staff, after meeting with them in Indianapolis.
“They had me watch film and gave me calls and allowed me to take notes,” he said. “Basically it was as if it was my first day with the team.
“And I was able to reiterate the plays and give them back to them very clearly and easily.”
Payton said Ruiz’s intelligence will be key, especially this season as the Saints and the rest of the NFL will not have the traditional offseason as the league enacts precautions in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.