A high school football standout who dreamed of playing in the National Football League has been sentenced to eight days in jail.
Craig Montrey Rucker, 26, who lives in the Lake Sumter Apartments on County Road 466, was sentenced this past week to eight days in the Lake County Jail on a felony charge of driving while license suspended.
He was arrested Dec. 14 while driving a red Mazda on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 in Fruitland Park. During a traffic stop in the parking lot at Stavros Pizza, the police officer who initiated the traffic stop learned that Rucker’s driver’s license had been suspended for five years and he has been classified as a habitual offender. He had two previous arrests for driving while license suspended in Lake County and one in Georgia.
Rucker played high school football at Edgewater, in Volusia County. His impressive high school performance led him to Mars Hill University, a private college in Asheville, N.C., where he was a wide receiver.
At 5 feet 7 inches tall, some thought Rucker was too short for football. But he played his way into the record books at Mars Hill University and had dreams of playing in the NFL as he discussed in a 2019 interview.
