DeVonta Smith says he won’t turn his back on his best friend, Henry Ruggs III, who is still serving a sentence in Nevada Prison

In November 2021, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith learned of the car crash involving his best friend, Henry Ruggs III, which resulted in the death of 23-year-old Tina Tintor.

In August 2023, former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to three to ten years in prison for the deadly crash. Ruggs pleaded guilty in May 2023 to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death, a felony, and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the 2021 crash, which killed a 23-year-old woman, Tina Tintor, and her dog, Max. In August 2023, Smith appeared on The Pivot Podcast, hosted by former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor. When the hosts asked about Smith’s friendship with Ruggs, the Eagles wideout shared his thoughts.

The same clip resurfaced on December 20, 2025, when MLFootball posted Smith’s interview from The Pivot Podcast on X. They captioned it: “HEARTBREAKING: DeVonta Smith talks about his best friend Henry Ruggs & his tragedy. “That’s gonna forever be my brother, so no matter what, I’ll always have his back.

That’s still family. You’re not gonna turn your back on them” What could have been💔.”

DeVonta Smith explained how he met Henry Ruggs III in The Pivot Podcast

“Since Day 1, I set foot on campus, that was my brother,” Smith explained in The Pivot Podcast.

“He wasn’t my roommate the first year, but he was the guy who got me out of my shell. Anytime I was just sitting in the room, he was the only person who came over and chilled with me. That relationship grew. After that, we were roommates. And it always stuck with me. His family coming over, my family coming over. We all getting to know each other.

Every day, he was the person I was with, I was talking to. That’s the person I trusted the most.

He made me feel like I was family, with his family, and I went down to Montgomery with him a couple of times. It was just always feeling like family. Since then, it just always stuck with me. That’s gonna forever be my brother, so no matter what, gonna always have his back, even through anything that’s going on.”

Henry Ruggs III will be eligible for parole in August 2026

When Channing Cowder asked Smith, “What did you learn from your brother?” with respect to the car crash.“One split-second decision, anything can happen, bad things,” DeVonta replied.

“And [you] also [learn] who’s with you and who’s not through tough times. And who’s gonna be there no matter what. At the end of the day, you are still family. Everybody knows bad decisions happen, but at the end of the day, that’s still family. You’re not gonna turn your back on him because of something like that.”Ruggs is in the Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) in Carson City, Nevada, and he recently graduated from the University of Alabama, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in commerce and business administration from behind bars. The 26-year-old finished the semester with a 4.0 GPA and will be eligible for parole in August 2026.Also Read: Are Cooper DeJean and Nikki Bella dating? WWE RAW, NFL training camp, and the Philadelphia Eagles locker room all offer so many clues