DeVonta Smith enjoyed playing against his “brother from another mother” when the Eagles took on the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 24th. Neither one of them knew that would be the final time they would ever play in a game against each other.
On Sunday, Smith tried to play for his former Alabama teammate, Henry Ruggs III, during Philadelphia’s 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Ruggs is no longer a member of the Raiders after being released following a deadly DUI accident that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old woman. Ruggs is currently facing four felony charges as a result of the accident.
“It kind of gave me a bigger purpose,” Smith said. “Just going out there playing for my brother, knowing he can’t play right now, so it just kind of gave me a bigger purpose just to go out there.”
Smith caught five passes for 116 yards and one touchdown against the Chargers.
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As far as Ruggs goes, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says he slammed into a Toyota RAV4 that caused it to erupt into a fireball and burned a 23-year-old woman and her dog alive. Ruggs’ blood-alcohol content was at least 0.161 percent – more than twice Nevada’s legal limit – when he wrecked while traveling 127 mph.
Ruggs was released into an electronic monitoring program on Wednesday after his bail was set at $150,000. He’s due back in court on Wednesday.
“First of all, my heart breaks for everybody that was involved – the family of the young lady that lost her life,” Smith said after the game. “But, I mean, it was rough at the beginning. But just coming in, being with the guys, they kind of gathered with me, helped me out a lot, so at the beginning of the week it was tough, but the guys helped me get through it.”
