Drunk driving claims more than 10,000 lives a year, and unfortunately, Henry Ruggs III claimed one of those lives this year. Henry Ruggs III, a star wide receiver drafted out of Alabama in the first round of 2020. Ruggs’ career was looking very promising until the early hours of November 2, when he was clocked going at 156 mph with a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit of .08. Victim Tina Tintor lost her life at 23 years old, along with her dog. Many may wonder why someone now so wealthy would drive under the influence and throw his career away as Ruggs did at the age of 22 instead of simply ordering a car service, such as an Uber or cab. I asked college athletes who attend Mercy College who are striving to be in his once life-changing position and how they felt about the situation. 

Jeremiah Peralta, a sophomore here at Mercy College, is on the baseball team with dreams of aspiring to be a professional athlete, as Ruggs once was. When asked how he felt about Ruggs being in college the same position as him only a year ago to now being a professional athlete, Peralta had a heartfelt message. “It’s an unfortunate situation for him as a person because now he has to live with the fact that he took a young woman’s life on a bad decision that he had made. He had a promising career ahead of him and he just let all of the money and fast cars get to his head and it’s all gone now. Of course, it’s an unfortunate situation, but you can’t really feel that bad for him.” Peralta said. “That’s all on him. You have to think that at that point, as a professional athlete, you have an image you have to take care of, and in a day, he ruined that entire image. There are things you have to do differently; you can’t move the same way anymore. We sacrifice so much throughout the years and miss out on so much and that’s our responsibility now and once you reach that professional level you don’t want to mess that up.” Peralta felt very strongly about this tragic situation as many upcoming athletes would. 

Jayden Dewaal is a Center for the men’s basketball team here at Mercy College, coming all the way from Toronto, Canada. Similar to Peralta, Dewaal felt very strongly about this situation. “Obviously, what had happened is tragic, but people forget that superstars are still humans at the end of the day. He can get punished through the legal system, and whatever comes his way, he has to deal with, but I feel like his NFL career shouldn’t be thrown away because of it. He’s probably played football since he was in his youth years and I feel like his team should have worked something out with him instead of releasing him the following day after the accident.” When Dewaal was asked how he would feel if he had just been drafted into the NBA and his career was cut short, he responded by saying, “It would be crazy, I would never think something like this would ever happen to me until it actually happened to me.” Dewaal, unlike Peralta, felt more sympathetic towards Ruggs. “He got there on his own and you can’t take anything away from him. He made it. I feel bad for him. A lot of people go through this situation. He made it to the top and it’s just unfortunate. Although he’s 22 now, that comes with more responsibilities in his career. 

Peralta and Dewaal are two aspiring athletes who can relate to Ruggs since Ruggs was in their position as a college athlete only just a year ago. They both understand what it’s like to work hard and make sacrifices for their careers as athletes. They know what it’s like to put in blood, sweat, and tears for their sports, so they can put themselves in Ruggs’ situation. As aspiring athletes, they felt many emotions and had very powerful statements when asked questions about Ruggs. Peralta and Dewaal dream of reaching that professional level, like Ruggs, and strive every day to do so. As college athletes, just one step away from achieving their ultimate goal, this hit harder than it would for a regular person like me or you because they can put themselves in Ruggs’ once-sought-after position.