DeVonta Smith recently garnered attention when he missed a Philadelphia Eagles’ practice to attend his Alabama teammate, Henry Ruggs, sentencing hearing.
Ruggs was sentenced to three to ten years in prison for his involvement in a car crash, that resulted in the death of Tina Tintor and her dog. Smith was excused from the Eagles’ practice to be in attendance due to the duo playing alongside one another at the University of Alabama for multiple years and building a strong bond. The Louisiana native discussed his relationship with Ruggs and how it grew during their time in Tuscaloosa on “The Pivot.”
“Since day one, stepping foot on campus. Like that was my brother,” Smith said. “We wasn’t roommates to the first year, but he was a guy that kind of got me outta my shell. Anytime I was just sitting in the room, he was the only person that really just came over there and just came in the room and just chilled with me and things like that. That 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. That’s the guy that I was talking to. That’s the person that I trusted the most. I had trust issues…But he was the guy that I always talked to and every, any time something was going on, he was the person I was talking to… So, since then it just always stuck with me and that’s gonna forever be my brother. So, no matter what, gonna always have his back, even through anything that’s going on.”
GET THE BEST ALABAMA FOOTBALL INSIDER INFORMATION, MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, AND RECRUITING COVERAGE TODAY! SIGN UP HERE TO UNLOCK OUR SUBSCRIBER ONLY CONTENT!*
