Alvin Jones Sr., the father of Packers running back Aaron Jones, died earlier this year due to COVID-19 complications. The NFL star has since kept his dad close to him during games by wearing a pendant around his neck containing the ashes of Jones Sr.
Jones lost the medallion when the chain broke during a Week 2 win over the Detroit Lions – but athletic trainer Bryan “Flea” Engel found it after the game in the end zone, The Hill reports. That’s when the team created a clever alternative to prevent Jones from losing the charm again. Longtime equipment manager Gordon “Red” Batty has sewed a pocket inside Jones’ No. 33 jersey to hold the pendant during games.
“He put a pocket right on the left side,” Jones said Friday. “So I can just drop it in there and not have to worry about it falling out. So I can play with it.”
The Packers’ Twitter account shared a photo of Batty with the jersey — see the tweet below.
“I think it’s something I’ll continue to do, just keep my dad with me everywhere I go,” Jones said of the pendant. “I wear it mostly at all times. Gotta get a new chain so I haven’t been wearing it except for on Sundays, but I think it’s definitely something I’ll continue to do.”
Jones Sr. died of COVID-19 complications in April at age 56.
”My dad is the greatest man I’ve ever encountered,” Jones wrote in a Player’s Tribune article in June. “The things he’s done for me in my life — he’s been there every step of the way. He taught me everything. He showed me how a man’s supposed to be a man.”
“Alvin Jones, Sr. was a wonderful man who I will miss very much,” Jones’ agent Drew Rosenhaus tweeted at the time. “He was the ultimate father and husband. I enjoyed the time I spent with him and I learned a lot from him. My condolences go out to the Jones family and everyone who was impacted by this great man.”
Speaking for the first time publicly following his dad’s passing, Jones said in May that the rest of his career “will be dedicated to my father.”
He added, “He’s the reason I started playing football. He’s what kept me going so many times. As a kid when you want to give up, he kept me going.”
Jones also praised his teammates for checking in on him during his family’s grieving process.
“I have a locker room full of brothers here who are making sure that I’m OK,” Jones said to the Green Bay media corps. “Some nights, I’m there with them on their couch and different things like that. … I’m thankful for all those guys in the locker room, to the upstairs management who’s made sure that I’m OK and continued to check on me.”
Jones Sr., a 29-year military veteran, hadn’t missed any of his son’s games in nine years.
“It just shows how special our staff is, and our support staff here with the Packers in Green Bay from the training staff to our equipment staff to [the] coaching staff to GM,” Jones said on an episode of The Adam Schefter podcast. “Just the whole time I’ve been experiencing this and dealing with this, they’ve been there for me from the funeral to this.”
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