If you knew where to look last Sunday night, as the confetti fell and the Georgia Dome quaked and the Falcons celebrated a victory in the NFC championship game, you could spot a tiny swatch of blue and yellow amid all the red and black. Julio Jones, who’d just staked a claim to the title of best receiver in the NFL, wore a small blue bracelet on his right wrist, a promise he’s keeping to a family in Alabama, a quiet way of honoring a friend and a fan who died far too young.
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Savoy Jones – no relation to Julio, though he surely would have loved to be – was the kind of remarkable kid possessed of both charisma and skill, talented enough to have people asking for his autograph on basketballs at age 5, relatable enough to have inspired an entire community.