Last week, Mario Herrera Jr. posited that the Dallas Cowboys should basically be waiting at the prison gate when Henry Ruggs becomes a free man.
Mario is a great writer and very knowledgeable, especially about football and the Dallas Cowboys. But my response to him on this point is simple and straightforward.
My brother in Christ, have you lost your dang mind?
Or to put it another way: there is no reason whatsoever that the Dallas Cowboys should take on Ruggs.
And that applies to every NFL team. Every team in the Canadian Football League, or any other professional sports league.
Ruggs should be considered as radioactive as Reactor 4 in Chernobyl. For those of you born in the 21st Century, that’s the nuclear power plant the Russians managed to blow up back in 1986.
Nobody goes near the place unless they absolutely have to.
No team should go near Ruggs and none of them will ever be in so desperate a need to so either.
The Death Of A Woman, A Dog, And A Career
In November 2021, an intoxicated Ruggs drove his Corvette at speeds reaching 156 MPH on the streets of Las Vegas in the early morning hours.
He plowed into a Rav-4 being driven by 23-year-old Tina Tintor. Her dog was a passenger in her car.
The impact sent Tintor’s car hundreds of feet down the road where it burst into flames.
Tintor and her dog survived the impact but were trapped inside and burned to death.
Ruggs was arrested, tried, and convicted. He was only sentenced to three-to-10 years.
He will be eligible for parole in August 2026 and is reported training to be in shape for a comeback if paroled.
Ruggs’ Apology Not Enough
Ruggs recently apologized to the family of the woman he killed that night. That’s commendable.
By all accounts, he is truly sorry for his actions, and their consequences, that night.
But if he truly wants to make amends, playing NFL football is not the path forward for him. He should look at the example of Dwayne Goodrich instead.
The former Cowboys cornerback made a bad choice behind the wheel of a car and killed two men. He nearly killed a third.
Goodrich did his time in prison.
But instead of trying to get back into the game as a player, he instead turned his attention, and his time, to trying to help others avoid his fate.
Ruggs would be better served following Goodrich’s post-prison lead. He will do much more good that way than he would scoring touchdowns on any football field.
Frankly, only when he can restore Tintor and her dog to the lives he took away from them, only then should he be allowed to regain his former life in the NFL.
A PR Nightmare
The biggest roadblock will be the publicity that will land on any team that would even think of signing him after he is released.
I’m not sure any team, even Jerry Jones, who is infamous for taking on players with baggage, would want to deal with that fallout.
Redemption is a good thing. Ruggs should have a chance to redeem himself in society.
Just not in uniform on an NFL playing field.
His path lies elsewhere.
He owes Tintor and her family that much at least.
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s I wouldn’t be shocked that Jerry Jones would go after Henry Ruggs lll Jerry Jones is stupid enough to do it thinking he’s getting a steal and Jerry Jones like players like this
Talking about being stupid enough!? Every comment you make is stupid!! I would think you’d stop making stupid comments by now after all the replies you’ve gotten telling you how stupid your comments are!! But I guess stupid people wouldn’t realize how stupid their comments are or realize people are trying to keep them from making themselves look stupid!! So I guess that’s why you are still making stupid comments!!
As a Cowboys fan for that many years you should not be stuck on stereotypes of Jerry that have not been true for over a decade or more. These ridiculous narratives just proves you are either not a true fan or just have zero idea of what you’re talking about.
No he’s not. You trump era people are so PRETENTIOUS. You lack understanding of almost everything and always come to unlikely conclusions that you of course believe like the gospel simply cause it ran through your simple little heads
You should reread Mario’s article because you misunderstood what he said.”However, in this case, the Cowboys must take a firm stance: Henry Ruggs should never wear a star on his helmet.”
Yes, the headline made it sound like Mario was OK with Jones going after Ruggs, but article text was just the opposite.
I think you have a reading disability, cause the other article you mentioned said the exact same thing you did!! The title is exactly the same too!! But as far as my response goes, I think your wrong!! The kid made a mistake, it was a big mistake, but no matter what, it was a mistake!! Everybody makes mistakes and no matter how bad they are, everybody deserves a 2nd chance!! Ruggs was a good kid!! Any of his Alabama teammates will tell you, he was the last person they ever thought would be in that situation!! But he’s young and all young kids do stupid stuff!! But it don’t mean he don’t deserve another chance to play football!! If Stephen or Jerry or any other team for that matter wants to give him a chance to prove himself and show he’s learned from his mistake then I have no problem with it!! Your not God and no fan or owner is God, so it’s not on you or anybody else to judge him for his mistake!! And he can play football and still help people from making the same mistake he made!! He don’t have to choose one or the other, all NFL players play football and have some kind of charity or something they help with, so Ruggs can do both too!! Either way, he’s young and made one mistake, so if he wants to play football again, he should be given a 2nd chance to play!! It’s not like he’s a repeat offender like Hardy was, so unless he makes another big mistake or starts causing problems in the NFL then he should be able to play again!!
This guy is so out of touch he needs to find something else to write about bias at its greatest form he did his time let him be
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s let start saying any comments I make is the truth I don’t work for the media and it’s too bad that I don’t have a social media and/or a podcast all the sports media only tell half truths or don’t know what they are talking about
Someone will give him a second chance, why not the cowboys. He served his time and has the right to earn a living! Don’t punish him twice
Willie Bowers…. some folk get self righteous, and want to further condemn the man… make no mistake about it, he did a horrendous thing, and the judicial system punished him as it saw fit… but you don’t have a man tried/convicted in a court of law, do his time, gets released from prison only to be subjected to a columnist who wants him to not to be able to earn a living by doing what he’s best qualified to do so… he should never have a driver’s license again would be the something I’m in favor of, and that could be extreme…compensation to her family, a lifetime of community service (regular speaking engagements coordinated with M.A.D.D), but trying deny him access by writing this article basically trying to shame any organization who may be willing to give him an opportunity to earn by subliminally asking teams to blackball Ruggs (if he’s physically able) is just ridiculous…
But hey I’m the same guy who believes kneeling during the national anthem isn’t a crime. some people have no empathy!
Who are you to tell any person how they should act or not act? You said brother in Christ I am sure if you do read your bible you will find a man who was a murder be one of the largest contributors to the Bible and the Christian faith. So if God has a plan for Mr Ruggs to use what ever means to spread a message we should not be against that but Pray that He will use this young man to save man lives. Just go look at Mr little who kill a mother drunk driving on Mother’s Day. He still went on to play on the NFL. So this is not new or a PR nightmare if it’s done for the right reasons and what I hope to be a story about redemption, forgiveness and Love which most of the time comes from failure, hurt and pain.
It was a tragic loss! Ruggs is up for parole, which is not a guarantee he’ll be released. If Ruggs is released, why shouldn’t he be able to try out for an NFL team? It’s ridiculous for you to want to dictate how Ruggs should live his life after serving time the justice system has deemed appropriate. The family who lost their loved one is entitled to those feelings and so much more.
If Ruggs were your son or nephew, I don’t think you’d have the same opinion. Just ask Andy Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. The governor commuted Andy’s son’s prison sentence, but you didn’t reference that incident or the idea Andy’s son should never coach again. At this point, Ruggs is serving his time and has an opportunity for parole. If Ruggs is paroled and makes it on an NFL team, we should all be hopeful that he is remorseful and chooses never to drink and drive again.
I strongly disagree!!! You are one of those hateful people that don’t believe in second chances. You claim Christ in your post, but know nothing about forgiveness. The man, as anyone that gets behind the wheel drunk is a selfish person. And yes he unfortunately killed someone with his irresponsible selfish act. But did God throw Saul to the curb? Or did he put him on his team after his change of ways? As we all know Saul became Paul and was one of his most important followers. This world needs to stop with casting people aside for committing a mistake. Ruggs can do great things on and off the field if given a second chance. Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. It’s about what you do after your mistakes that matter. If you and this world aren’t willing to to forgive and give second chances, none of us be here. You not any human being has the right to judge.
Your not a Christian if you feel Ruggs doesn’t deserve another chance if that’s the case neither do we because we all are born of sin and God forgave us and died so we could live and have a second chance .Amen
So what yall are saying is no one deserves a second chance? If so, you are goofy. If Ruggs is good enough and want to return, he should bè given a chance. Why? He is talented enough to be great. He drunkly killed a life which is sad. Still he should get a chance to make amends on and off the field.
it’s a tragedy and yes heartbreaking but he served his time. he has s right to pursue a career of his choice. no one has a right to tell him not to. if he can’t play they won’t let him play. if anything he should never drive a vehicle. I’m sure he’ll do what he should about this and be a better person. hopefully. if not then that’s on him
Who are you to judge??
I’m not sure when a sports writer became qualified to manage someone else’s life affairs but okay. The thing is… Everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes we get punished sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we learn sometimes we don’t. But just because I made a mistake, or just because you make a mistake that doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your dreams. Would it make you happy if he never played again or was given a chance to do so? Sold he have died too. Like he deserves happiness of God decides he does not you dude. Ease up. He can blaze his own trails. He doesn’t have to follow-up someone else’s
Anyone that uses the word dang has no credibility what so ever.
God bless everyone but one thing we like to play God but we are not, it’s God to determine his life not us we don’t have a place to judge anyone unless you are perfect which we know no one is but God.God bless everyone and Henry Ruggs lll in our life journey only you know the paths God
So to every Christian, and the perfect person the condemnation that we set on people is far beyond what God intends. If you are so fortunate and can sleep within yourself to speak for God and how he handles His business then be careful not to lose your footing as you walk through your perfect world. We all deserve and have received another chance after every mistake. Be compassionate and let whatever God is going to do run its course.
Fuck you, who are you to decide a man’s faith. I think he deserves another chance.
.
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s I am a fan but Henry Ruggs lll took lives while being drunk behind the wheel and saying your sorry won’t bring them back