Henry Ruggs

Ruggs grew up in Montgomery, Alabama.[2] In the eighth grade, Ruggs was promoted to the varsity football team for the final two games of their season.[2] He attended Robert E. Lee High School.[3] Ruggs did not play high school football until his junior year and received his first scholarship offer after just his second game on the gridiron.[2] As a senior, he had 38 catches for 639 yards and 20 total touchdowns over nine games.[4] Of those 20 touchdowns, nine were catches, seven were rushes, three were passes, and one was a kick return.[5] In addition to football, Ruggs played basketball and ran track in high school, and his 10.58-second 100-meter dash time broke the Alabama High School Athletic Association's class 7A record.[6] In 2017, 247Sports.com ranked Ruggs as the second best high school football player in Alabama.[7] Ruggs received scholarship offers from over 20 colleges to play football, but ultimately committed to the University of Alabama.[6][8][9]

As a true freshman at Alabama in 2017, Ruggs had 12 receptions for 229 yards and six touchdowns.[10] As a sophomore in 2018, he had 46 receptions for 741 yards and 11 touchdowns.[11][12] As a junior in 2019, he had 40 receptions for 746 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.[13] During his junior season, Ruggs was also the team's primary kick returner and averaged 23.8 yards per return.[13] His 24 total career receiving touchdowns places him third on Alabama's all-time leaderboard.[5] On January 6, 2020, Ruggs announced that he would forgo his senior year and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.[14]

Ruggs ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine, which was the fastest time by any prospect by .08 seconds, and tied for the fourth-fastest ever at the event since electronic timing began in 1999.[5][16] Ruggs' vertical jump measured 42-inches, which was tied for the second best mark among wide receivers at the 2020 combine.[17] The Las Vegas Raiders selected Ruggs with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, making him the first wide receiver taken.[18] The selection made Ruggs the first ever draft pick of the Las Vegas Raiders after their move from Oakland earlier in the 2020 offseason.[19] Ruggs was the Raiders’ second consecutive first round pick of a player from the University of Alabama, joining 2019 first round running back Josh Jacobs.[20] On July 21, 2020, the Raiders and Ruggs agreed to terms on a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $16.67 million, with a team option for a fifth-year.[21]

On September 13, 2020, Ruggs made his NFL debut in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, finishing with three receptions for 55 yards in the 34–30 win.[22] During Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ruggs finished with 118 receiving yards on only two receptions, which included a 72-yard touchdown his first NFL career touchdown, as the Raiders won 40–32.[23] In Week 13 against the New York Jets, Ruggs recorded three catches for 84 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown reception with 5 seconds left in the game to help the Raiders win by a score of 31–28.[24] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 15, 2020,[25] and activated on December 24.[26]

Ruggs credits his late friend Roderic Scott with encouraging him to play football in high school.[7] Scott died in a car accident at 17 years of age, and Ruggs honors him with a three-fingered salute after every touchdown because Scott wore number 3 on the football field.[7] Ruggs’ brother Kevontae played college football for Ole Miss in 2018 before transferring to Eastern Mississippi Community College in 2019.[27] In April 2020, Henry Ruggs partnered with Three Square, a southern Nevada food bank, to donate meals to those in need because of the Coronavirus pandemic.[28] On May 7, 2020, Ruggs’ daughter was born.[29]

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