Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs has remained close to former Las Vegas Raiders teammate Henry Ruggs III through one of the more painful situations the NFL has faced in recent years. Ruggs, the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, has been incarcerated since pleading guilty in 2023 to DUI resulting in death.
The crash killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor in Las Vegas. Jacobs appeared on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark to speak openly about the tragedy and his bond with Ruggs and his family. What he shared was honest and personal.
Jacobs was supposed to be with Ruggs the night everything changed
“I still talk to Henry. Henry still calls me. I still help him out. I know his whole family. He’s from Alabama. He played with me at Bama. His momma and them taught me how to bowl. Keeping up with him and hearing him talk, it brings me spirits, because he’s always positive,” Jacobs said.
The connection goes back years before the NFL. Jacobs and Ruggs played together at Alabama in 2017 and 2018. Both wound up in the same Raiders locker room that next fall.
Nov 22, 2020; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III (11). Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 22, 2020; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III (11). Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jacobs said he was supposed to join Ruggs at TopGolf the night of the crash but did not go. When he found out what happened, his reaction was not calm:
“I instantly get mad. And then when I start finding out more about the story and about how they were supposed to be racing. I’m like, ‘Who was he with?’ But he was with his family. So I went to his house. I had some words with some people over there, and I’m just like, ‘Man, y’all got to understand, like, he the breadwinner of the family. He the one changing all of y’all’s lives. Everybody. And then, not only that, he’s a good kid. He’s never been in trouble. I’ve never seen him do nothing crazy,'” Jacobs said.
Under his sentence, Ruggs is currently held at Casa Grande Transitional Housing in Las Vegas and is first eligible for parole on August 5, 2026, per NBC Sports.
HEARTBREAKING: #NFL star Josh Jacobs talk about the tragedy of Henry Riggs, saying he was a good kid.
“I still talk to Henry. Henry still calls me. I’m still helping him out and all of them type of things. His wife and his daughter, like all of that”
💔 pic.twitter.com/XD7SaY457V
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) April 9, 2026
Dec 7, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Dec 7, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
According to Jacobs, Ruggs is training inside and staying positive. Jacobs told Ryan Clark he has been working contacts on Ruggs’ behalf, per Heavy:
“They’ve been saying a couple of teams are willing to give him a chance. I’m like, ‘When you get that chance, man, you better not ever, don’t look back, and prove to yourself and prove to everybody that one decision don’t define you and who you are as a man,'” Jacobs said.
Whether Ruggs finds a way back to the NFL is still completely uncertain. His parole date is close, and Jacobs is clearly already working the phones for him. That doesn’t guarantee anything. But it says something about the kind of teammate Ruggs was before everything fell apart, and it says plenty about Jacobs.