The Las Vegas Raiders accidentally made a reference to Henry Ruggs’ fatal car accident on Saturday morning of the NFL Draft. It was not on purpose and the post did not stay up for long.
However, the person behind the keyboard should have paused for a moment before hitting post.
Ruggs, the No. 12 overall pick in 2020, was sentenced to a prison term of three-to-ten years in August for his role in a tragic crash that occurred on Nov. 2, 2021. He was driving at 156 miles per hour while also under the influence of alcohol. His blood test, which took place two hours after he refused to take a field sobriety test, revealed a BAC of 0.161%. That is more than twice the legal limit.
A witness to the crash detailed the horrifying scene as he attempted to rescue the victim. The collision resulted in the death of 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog who was also in the car.
Las Vegas cut Ruggs shortly after the devastating incident. He is currently serving his sentence at a prison camp in northern Nevada.
Here is where the Raiders made their mistake.
They drafted Mississippi State (and Ole Miss) cornerback Decamerion Richardson with the No. 112 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine.
To reference his quickness, Las Vegas posted a video of his 40 on X with the caption “speed kills.” Although it was not intentional, the choice of words was especially poor as one of their former players serves time for reckless driving that resulted in fatality.
The Las Vegas Raiders did realize their mistake shortly after it went live and has since deleted the post.
Social media administrators are often moving very fast, especially during live events like the NFL Draft. The connection between the “speed kills” caption and Ruggs likely did not cross the responsible party’s mind. He or she is deserving of grace.
But with that being said, the connection should have crossed his or her mind. That cannot happen!