HAMLET — When Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones joins his team to battle the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday, he is expected to be wearing a blue wristband with a Richmond County connection.
Savoy Jones was a fun-loving and athletic teenager in Dothan, Alabama. He played baseball and basketball for Emmanuel Christian School, and his father, Chris Jones — a Hamlet native — devoted hours to coaching several teams.
Then one February evening, four years ago this Sunday, Chris Jones dropped his son off at basketball practice and said he’d be back soon. It wasn’t long before he received a tragic call.
“About ten minutes after I left, the coach called and said he looked dizzy,” Chris Jones said. “We took him to a local hospital, give or take, about two hours later. And then, God called him home. They said it was death by natural causes, but never explained the cause. It was sudden.”
It was hard on the family — but faith got them through, Chris Jones said.
“It had to be God,” he explained. “I actually spoke at my own son’s funeral. I couldn’t have done that on my own. It was God.”
The funeral, Chris Jones recalled, was large. More than 2,000 attended the visitation. The Jones family hugged people, shook hands and took some comfort in the community of friends and family, teammates, school friends and people of the church — for five hours straight.
“That’s how many people there were,” Chris Jones said. “He just made such an impact on people. He was a good sportsman, and just a good person. And he really touched lives, and continues to touch lives.”`
From the age of six, Chris Jones said his son caught the attention of people who watched him play — or were simply uplifted by his joyful attitude — and at that young age, Savoy’s signature on basketballs became sought-after.
He grew up in a loving home with his father, his mother, Sophia Jones, and his sister Christina Jones. It was through Christina that Savoy was able to meet Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (not related to the family).
“They met a few times,” Chris Jones said. “Julio and my daughter became good friends when she was in college at Alabama. She was one of the ‘A Team’ guides when Julio was recruited. So Savoy met Julio once or twice.”
Savoy’s future seemed bright. He was raised by a family who put their trust in the Lord. He developed a strong faith and a sense of responsibility to his community. Once, he told his father he wanted to buy a bus for Emmanuel Christian School. Not only did he mature into a talented athlete — Savoy also matured in his heart, according to his father.
“After Savoy passed, I sat back and remembered what he used to say to me,” Chris Jones said. “He’d say, ‘Chief, I’m going to buy a bus for the school one day.’ And I’d say, ‘Okay, Michael Jordan. But you can’t buy a bus flipping burgers.’”
Dobbins Heights Mayor, Antonio Blue, grew up across the street from Chris Jones — and though he was younger than Jones, the two were close.
“He and I are good friends,” Blue said. “We grew up as friends, together. He grew up on Jones and McGee Street. Later, I knew Savoy and his sister. They would come to visit. Savoy was a good kid.”
To remember his son, Chris Jones began making blue wristbands.
“The school colors he attended are blue and yellow — that’s how I came up with the color,” he said. “The baseball team at the school, they retired his number. He was number 23. And they retired his basketball jersey, where he was number ten. Those numbers are on the wristbands along with Savoy’s name. On the back of the wristband is, ‘Nothing but his love.’”
Chris Jones said the phrase refers to the love of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It has been a phrase the family used long before Savoy’s sudden death — but one that was special to the young man.
“We saw Julio again, and I gave him one of the blue wristbands and asked him if he could just wear it in support of Savoy,” he recalled. “I didn’t necessarily think he was going to wear it all the time. But we found out later he’d been wearing that band in the games. I didn’t know he’d been wearing it until they beat the Green Bay Packers and won the (NFC) championship.”
He said that while he isn’t sure whether Julio Jones will be sporting the wristband during Sunday’s game, the family will be keeping an eye out for a flash of blue on the wide receiver’s wrist.
Since his son’s death, Chris Jones said he felt inspired to carry on with Savoy’s dream of buying his school a bus.
“It’s a 43-passenger with drop-down TVs, surround-sound, seat belts and is handicap accessible,” he said.
The Jones’ also sponsor a $5,000 scholarship in their loved-one’s name every year. Chris Jones speaks to groups of students in schools, saying he is compelled to tell his story and demonstrate the love of God.
“God has given me the platform where I actually go into colleges, high schools and middle schools,” he said. “And when they ask me to come, I tell them up front that I will be talking about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ — and if they don’t want to hear it, I won’t come. And the beautiful thing is, I have never been turned away a single time.
”I try and let them know it’s important to get good grades in school, be good to your parents, love your brothers and sisters and tell them you love them,” he continued. “But I also tell them to get to know Jesus Christ and to never take a moment for granted, because you never know when your time will come.”
He added that many people, when faced with the unexpected death of someone so close, find themselves ruminating on what might have been.
“I don’t have to feel all the ‘what I should have done,’ because I was in his life every day. Every single day. That’s why it is so important to love other people now. Don’t wait.”
For Chris and Sophia Jones, he said, it is important to them that Christina understands how precious she is to them. They make sure to tell her so.
“Both of them have been a blessing to us,” Chris Jones said. “I thank God for my children. My wife and I just celebrated 35 years of marriage. It’s good when people come to you and say to you what kind of impact your child left on them. And Savoy’s still touching people.”
Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @meloniemclaurin.
