2 hours ago, Diehardfan said:

I'm not sure serving time in prison for a few years will allow them to "pay" for taking a life, but I'd rather sign someone like that than someone with a history of beating women. One was a criminally bad and absolutely selfish and irresponsible decision to drive and the other is a pattern of disgusting and inexecutable actions. Within reason and depending on what they did if we don't give people a second chance after prison then what is the incentive for anyone who serves time to change? I'd be good with it.

In no way supporting Henry Ruggs or feeling bad for him, but I'm pretty sure Leonard Little did the same thing and had a long NFL career, same with Donte Stallworth, who the Eagles gave a chance. 99% of the time, if you can help and NFL team win, they are going to overlook issues or try to help a player overcome them.

9 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Why should Smith vouching for his best friend sway me? I'd actually be more worried that the two would be hanging out together more often. Sometimes influence works the opposite way.

Did DeVonta have any issues throughout college hanging out with Ruggs? Did Ruggs for that matter when he was hanging out with DeVonta?

1 hour ago, ToastJenkins said:

Not sure how Ruggs bad decision is any worse than Vicks. If anything Vick was far more malicious

I had an easier time forgiving Vick, even as a diehard dog lover. YES, he should have eventually known better, but there's a culture he was raised in where dog fighting is perceived as a good thing and it determines who the top dog is, no pun intended. If you're raised in a culture where certain things are promoted as good, how is he supposed to know any better? The argument is, eventually he should have known better, but at the same time, he was surrounded by bad people who saw his money and encouraged him to use that money to keep doing what he knew ever since he was a kid. Going to Atlanta was one of the worst things for Vick and his career. I truly think that if he was drafted by the Eagles from the beginning, he would have had a complete different outcome. The leadership on that Eagles team could have guided him. Do you think Brian Dawkins would have let Vick continue doing what he was doing? Now, there's a good chance that Vick had leadership in Atlanta and ignored it...if that's the case, my opinion of him would change, but I just think he never surrounded himself with the right people who said, Mike, this is NOT who you need to be.

I went to a church service years ago at a mega church with my ex girlfriend and the message stuck with me ever since. They showed us clips of the movie Captain Phillips. The discussion was that the pirates were raised in poverty and the only good they knew was to hijack ships to provide for their families. Captain Phillips on the other hand, was raised in a 1st world culture where true good and evil is taught. Killing the pirates and defending the ship was what HE was doing to help HIS people.

The environment we're raised in, especially if sheltered can really skew perceptions of good vs evil.

1 hour ago, austinfan said:

Well, they weren't going to bench Carter or Williams on passing downs to give Davis more snaps.

He might get more snaps this year when he's competing against Ojomo and Robinson for PT.

I don’t believe he’ll play many third and longs this year if Carter and Ojomo are healthy, and I’m OK with that. They’re both better at it. I’d like him to make it a tougher decision for the coaching staff on 2-and -10.

30 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

I already explained my stance a little more clearly. I truly believe Vick left prison a changed man after being mentored by Dungy. We were the perfect team for him to come back into the NFL with since we had a franchise QB and supposedly his heir already on the roster. It was a situation where he could join a class organization on a very short leash. Vick spent the rest of his career doing events to make amends for his past. What, at this point, do we even know about Ruggs? Who is vouching for him? What good things does he bring the team or the city as a person?

If the idea is just to give him a 2nd chance and see what happens --- hard pass from me. If he can show he has changed and can contribute positively to society (like Vick did despite his doubters), then I'm okay with it. In the end, though, this (passing) offense goes through Brown and Smith.

I agree. I don't know Mike Vick at all, but I 100% think he changed his life. Aside from his talent, his redemption story is what makes him maybe my favorite Eagle of all time.

6 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Your entire argument against Ruggs is this assumption that he has no regret over his actions that led to the tragedy of that night and he won't be apologetic when he gets out of jail. I seem to remember he already was at his sentencing. I don't believe he would get out on early release parole as well if he wasn't showing himself as a reformed individual in prison.

I don't see why there would be any expectation for Ruggs to get into further trouble with suspensions and distractions if he would sign here. Like Jalen Carter he was made a really stupid decision behind the wheel of a car. He wasn't a guy going around beating up his GF or getting involved in some robbery where there was actual intent to do harm. And again, he would be coming into an organization where his best friend and probably one of the most level headed mature guys in the Eagles organization is with a huge presence already in DeVonta Smith. Much like how Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean are credited with helping keep Carter on his best behavior. Even beyond DeVonta you have Jalen Hurts who was another former teammate of Ruggs.

It has absolutely nothing to do with regret. If he has no regret, he's not even human. I mean, even in the most selfish setting, a person would regret destroying their own lucrative career if nothing else. So this has nothing to do with regret. I said I'd be open to the idea if a high character, mature person that I respected could make a convincing argument that he has learned and changed as a person. The world is full of people that got into trouble, served time and then got into trouble again. We aren't a freakin' halfway house. We're a football team. The counseling needs to already be done.

We had Ross and his speed last year in camp. We had Quez and his speed before that. We had Reagor and his speed before that. He's been out of professional football for 2.5 years. What are you really expecting him to add?

4 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

I had an easier time forgiving Vick, even as a diehard dog lover. YES, he should have eventually known better, but there's a culture he was raised in where dog fighting is perceived as a good thing and it determines who the top dog is, no pun intended. If you're raised in a culture where certain things are promoted as good, how is he supposed to know any better? The argument is, eventually he should have known better, but at the same time, he was surrounded by bad people who saw his money and encouraged him to use that money to keep doing what he knew ever since he was a kid. Going to Atlanta was one of the worst things for Vick and his career. I truly think that if he was drafted by the Eagles from the beginning, he would have had a complete different outcome. The leadership on that Eagles team could have guided him. Do you think Brian Dawkins would have let Vick continue doing what he was doing? Now, there's a good chance that Vick had leadership in Atlanta and ignored it...if that's the case, my opinion of him would change, but I just think he never surrounded himself with the right people who said, Mike, this is NOT who you need to be.

I went to a church service years ago at a mega church with my ex girlfriend and the message stuck with me ever since. They showed us clips of the movie Captain Phillips. The discussion was that the pirates were raised in poverty and the only good they knew was to hijack ships to provide for their families. Captain Phillips on the other hand, was raised in a 1st world culture where true good and evil is taught. Killing the pirates and defending the ship was what HE was doing to help HIS people.

The environment we're raised in, especially if sheltered can really skew perceptions of good vs evil.

I have no idea what your point is here…

2 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

I agree. I don't know Mike Vick at all, but I 100% think he changed his life. Aside from his talent, his redemption story is what makes him maybe my favorite Eagle of all time.

He definitely went from someone I didn't like at all to a person I still root for today.

11 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Did DeVonta have any issues throughout college hanging out with Ruggs? Did Ruggs for that matter when he was hanging out with DeVonta?

Did Ruggs have a high end Corvette in college?

Just now, ToastJenkins said:

I have no idea what your point is here…

My point is Mike Vick was raised in a culture where dog fighting is celebrated and he may not have known better. I can't fault him for that. If the elders and leaders in your community are fighting dogs and telling you that's a good thing to do, Vick was just doing something that he was raised in.

That's just how I perceive it. He very well could have been a huge POS, got enjoyment out of watching dogs destroy each other and showed no remorse for a dog's life but I don't think that was the case. Either way, I do think he learned his lesson, served his time and came out of jail a better man.

Just now, brkmsn said:

Did Ruggs have a high end Corvette in college?

He probably did drive a fast sports car in Alabama. He was a high end player on a dynasty Alabama team. It's not like top end college players like him just started getting paid when NIL rolled around.

6 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

He definitely went from someone I didn't like at all to a person I still root for today.

Why? Dude was always the same

But, but Shedeur.

1 minute ago, RememberTheKoy said:

He probably did drive a fast sports car in Alabama. He was a high end player on a dynasty Alabama team. It's not like top end college players like him just started getting paid when NIL rolled around.

NIL started 2 years after he was drafted. Programs like Alabama likely were subjecting players to rules to hopefully keep them out of trouble. Once you enter the NFL, you're expected to act like a grown man that can make good decisions.

1 minute ago, ToastJenkins said:

Why? Dude was always the same

I disagree. Before prison, he was pretty selfish and was not fully coachable and made terrible decisions. After Dungy mentored him, he was humble, apologetic, extremely coachable and proved to be a completely changed person.

2 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

NIL started 2 years after he was drafted. Programs like Alabama likely were subjecting players to rules to hopefully keep them out of trouble. Once you enter the NFL,, you're expected to act like a grown man that can make good decisions.

And the Eagles have the best structure in place of any team in the league for Ruggs to come in and be on his best behavior for his reformation. They will have Big Dom look into him. They will talk with Jalen and DeVonta. They will talk with Ruggs. And if they believe in his sincerity of his regret of his actions that night then Henry Ruggs will be on the Eagles roster for the 2026 season. All that is assuming he actually gets out next year and doesn't have to serve any sort of NFL suspension if he does.

6 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

My point is Mike Vick was raised in a culture where dog fighting is celebrated and he may not have known better. I can't fault him for that. If the elders and leaders in your community are fighting dogs and telling you that's a good thing to do, Vick was just doing something that he was raised in.

That's just how I perceive it. He very well could have been a huge POS, got enjoyment out of watching dogs destroy each other and showed no remorse for a dog's life but I don't think that was the case. Either way, I do think he learned his lesson, served his time and came out of jail a better man.

So why not give ruggs the same benefit of the doubt and opportunity to reform? Stallworth effed up too.

Seems too much like making ezcuses for Vick. A toddler Can tell Dog fighting is evil

6 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

NIL started 2 years after he was drafted. Programs like Alabama likely were subjecting players to rules to hopefully keep them out of trouble. Once you enter the NFL,, you're expected to act like a grown man that can make good decisions.

Like vick in atlanta?

Just now, ToastJenkins said:

Like vick in atlanta?

Yes. You are reading my whole posts, right?

4 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

I disagree. Before prison, he was pretty selfish and was not fully coachable and made terrible decisions. After Dungy mentored him, he was humble, apologetic, extremely coachable and proved to be a completely changed person.

Dont see it.

People just found him exciting to

Watch

Just now, brkmsn said:

Yes. You are reading my whole posts, right?

Sadly, yes

2 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

So why not give ruggs the same benefit of the doubt and opportunity to reform? Stallworth effed up too.

Seems too much like making ezcuses for Vick. A toddler Can tell Dog fighting is evil

I never said I wouldn't give him the opportunity for reform, just that I don't support what he did.

I'm not making excuses for Vick. I'm just explaining how I view it.

5 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

Dont see it.

People just found him exciting to

Watch

Vick was very clearly a changed person after prison and it's obvious it wasn't some short term act just to get back in the NFL because he has carried himself as that changed person to this day even 16 years later.