DeVonta Smith discusses relationship with Henry Ruggs, why he skipped recent Eagles practice

The Philadelphia Eagles granted star receiver DeVonta Smith an excused absence from practice on Aug. 9, the same day in which his Alabama teammate, Henry Ruggs, received his sentencing for his role in the DUI crash that killed a Las Vegas woman and her dog in November 2021.

Smith attended the sentencing in Las Vegas where Ruggs learned he’d spend at least the next three years in prison. During a recent appearance on “The Pivot Podcast,” Smith explained why he felt it was important to miss practice to attend the sentencing.

“Since Day 1 stepping foot on campus that was my brother,” Smith said, via AL.com. “We wasn’t roommates the first year, but he was the guy that kind of got me out of my shell. Anytime I was just sitting in the room, he was the one person that just came over there, came in the room and just chilled with me and things like that, and the relationship just kind of grew.

“After that, we were roommates, and it just always stuck with me. His family coming over, my family coming over, we all getting to know each other and things like that. Every day, that was the person that I was with, the guy that I was talking to. That’s the person that I trusted the most. Like I said, I had trust issues talking to people, but he was the guy I always talked to. Anytime something was going on, he was the person I was talking to… He just made me feel like I was family.

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

DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs formed deep bond at Alabama

Smith and Ruggs spent three seasons together at Alabama from (2017-19), winning a National Championship in 2017. The Las Vegas Raiders selected Ruggs with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, while the Eagles made Smith the No. 10 selection the following year. Nine days after the two were on opposite sidelines for the first time in the NFL, Ruggs was arrested after the deadly crash in Las Vegas.

Asked what he learned from Ruggs’ situation, Smith said “one split-second decision, anything can happen.”

“One split-second decision, anything can happen – bad things,” Smith said. “And also who’s with you and who’s not through tough times. Who’s going to be there no matter what’s going on? At the end of the day, you’re still family. Everybody know bad decisions happen, but at the end of the day, that’s still family. You’re not going to just turn your back on him because of something like that.”