LAS VEGAS — Close to four years after causing a fiery crash that killed a Las Vegas woman, former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III said he wishes he had stayed home that night.

“I wish that I could turn back the hands of time,” Ruggs said Tuesday while speaking to former prisoners in Las Vegas and virtually to some current prisoners at a handful of Nevada Department of Corrections facilities.

The comments were Ruggs’ first known public comments outside court about his role in the November 2021 collision that killed Tina Tintor and her dog.

“I sincerely apologize not only for being a part of that situation, but also for the fact that my face is constantly in the news and in the newspaper, so (the family) has to be constantly reminded of that situation,” said Ruggs, 26, who spoke for about an hour at a Hope for Prisoners group gathering in Las Vegas.

The talk was facilitated by Hope for Prisoners founder Jon Ponder.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 2, 2021, Ruggs, a promising young player for the Raiders at the time, was driving his Corvette nearly 160 miles per hour before he crashed into a car driven by Tintor on Rainbow Boulevard near Spring Valley Parkway.

‘A pain we feel every day’

Tintor, 23, and her dog, Max, died in the crash. Ruggs pleaded guilty to a DUI causing death charge and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison.

“Every parent’s worst nightmare is to create a beautiful child just to have them taken away at the hands of another’s negligence,” said Tintor’s cousin, Daniel Strbac, in a statement prepared by her mother, Mirjana Komazec, at Ruggs’ sentencing hearing in August 2023. “There are very few words to explain the feelings of losing a child. It is a pain we feel every day.”

In the sentencing hearing, Ruggs apologized to Tintor’s family and said “my actions are not a true reflection of me” and that he had “no excuse for the crash.”

A message to an attorney who previously worked for the Tintor family was not immediately returned Tuesday. Tintor’s uncle, Pedja Komazec, said he didn’t know Ruggs would be speaking, and declined to comment in depth.

“I have a lot of things to say, but just to say a couple words is not enough,” Komazec said in a text Tuesday night.

Ruggs was initially booked into High Desert State Prison outside Las Vegas, but was moved to Stewart Conservation Camp in northern Nevada one month into his incarceration. In November 2024, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Ruggs had been transferred to the Casa Grande Transitional Housing unit in Las Vegas, where he participates in a work release program. The transitional housing facility is less than a mile from Allegiant Stadium, where the Raiders play their home games.

Ruggs will be eligible for parole on Aug. 6, 2026.

Raiders’ first draft pick while based in Las Vegas

A blazing fast receiver out of the University of Alabama, Ruggs was selected with the No. 12 overall pick of the National Football League draft in 2020 by the Raiders. He was the team’s first-ever draft pick while located in Las Vegas.

Through seven games during the 2021 season, Ruggs had 24 receptions for nearly 500 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders. He was considered the team’s best offensive deep threat and was an important building block for the club’s future.

But that all changed that November night in 2021. On Tuesday, Ruggs said he wished he would have simply “stayed home” that night instead of going out drinking.

He spoke of the pressures he felt as a young NFL player with a multimillion-dollar contract in a new city. He said he used drinking as a way to “escape” those pressures.

“I didn’t pay attention to the help that I had in front of me because I knew it all,” Ruggs said.

Ruggs described his period of incarceration as humbling and said he now meditates and has spent time planning for what his life will be like “outside the walls.”

Though he was a football star beloved by hordes of fans, Ruggs said he had to take on an entirely new persona in prison as offender 1273265.

“If they call me ‘Henry’ or ‘Ruggs,’ I don’t even respond,” Ruggs said. “I don’t turn or acknowledge them because that’s not who I am right now.”

As to who he is now, Ruggs said he’s still figuring that out, but that he’s grown in his faith and he wants to help people when he’s released.

Wants to play football again

Though he’s been away from football for several years, Ruggs appeared in prime physical shape and said he’d like to play football again.

“Yes, I would love to,” Ruggs said when asked if he’d like another shot in the NFL. “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.”

He even said he’d welcome playing for the Raiders, who released him soon after the crash.

“Why would I not?” Ruggs said. “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.”

Ruggs said he was asked to speak at the Hope for Prisoners event last week and decided that “the time was right” to open up about his experiences.

Hope for Prisoners is a nonprofit that works, in part, to help inmates reenter the workforce and society following imprisonment.

In a statement Tuesday, Ruggs’ attorney, David Chesnoff, said “we are pleased that Henry is giving back to the community and helping uplift others.”

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