Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and quarterback Derek Carr. (Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports)
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr shared a text message he received from receiver Henry Ruggs III before his deadly DUI crash.
Henry Ruggs III killed a woman and her dog with his utterly reckless actions. There’s no getting around it. He’s going to pay the price for that.
First and foremost, it’s about the victim and her family. The ripples also extend to Ruggs, who has to live with himself knowing what he did, and the people who love him, who have to come to grips with the way he threw his life and the life of an innocent victim away.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is one of those people processing the very complex grief.
Derek Carr shared a simple text Henry Ruggs sent him before crash
Carr was emotional speaking to the media after news of Ruggs’ crash and arrest came out. He shared his love for the receiver while also giving details about the night of the tragedy.
“He literally texted me at midnight on his golf swing, me and Hunter [Renfrow]. ‘How’s my swing look? You guys need to help me,’” Carr said. “Just seeing that and then getting the news when we woke up…how am I supposed to handle that?”
There’s no great way to handle something like this. There’s a fine line to walk between keeping all the attention on the victim and her family while also acknowledging that Ruggs was a person who was loved and will continue to be loved despite his actions.