Former Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs was granted a special release from prison Tuesday night to speak at an event in Las Vegas for an organization HOPE for Prisoners.
Ruggs is serving three to 10 years in prison for DUI causing death after driving his Corvette nearly 160 miles per hour into another vehicle on a Las Vegas street in November 2021, killing a woman and her dog. According to the [Las Vegas Review-Journal](https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/i-wish-i-could-turn-back-the-hands-of-time-ruggs-speaks-after-fatal-2021-dui-crash-3386531/?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=topnews&utm_source=news&utm_term=%E2%80%98I%20wish%20I%20could%20turn%20back%20the%20hands%20of%20time%E2%80%99%3A%20Ruggs%20speaks%20after%20fatal%202021%20DUI%20crash), Ruggs has lived in a transitional housing unit and participated in work release since November 2024, and is eligible for parole in August 2026.
Ruggs was asked during Tuesday's event what he would say to the victim's family in his first known public comments since his court sentencing in 2023.
"I wish I could turn back the hands of time," he said, according to [video of Ruggs' answer](https://x.com/VinnyBonsignore/status/1935156452974620863) from the Review-Journal. "I would love for them to meet the real Henry Ruggs and not the one that was escaping from something. I sincerely apologize for not only being a part of that situation, but the fact that ... my face is always in the news. My face is always in the newspaper. So they have to constantly be reminded of the situation, and be reminded of me and see those memories have to continue to rise because of all of the fanbase and notoriety that I have, which I never asked for -- I never liked.
"I would just tell them that I deeply apologize for just being a part of that and I wish that they could meet the real Henry Ruggs and not one who was just running away from everything."
Ruggs later clarified he was "escaping" from the pressures of being a first-round NFL draft pick after the Raiders selected him No. 12 overall in 2020.
"I didn't pay attention to the help that I had in front of me because I knew it all," Ruggs said, according to the Review-Journal.
Ruggs, 26, is a Montgomery native and former five-star prospect in 2018 who played three seasons at Alabama. He played a season-and-a-half in the NFL until his arrest and subsequent release by the Raiders.
"Yes, I would love to," Ruggs said when asked if he'd like another shot in the NFL, according to the Review-Journal. "I'm in this newfound spiritual space, and I'm confident in who I am and what I can do, so, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll be ready.
"I don't feel like I ended on the terms that are meaningful to me and my core values. I would love to play again, and what better place to do it than where I started? Not to mention, I was the first-ever pick in Las Vegas."