BATON ROUGE — Those closest to LSU football junior Emery Jones Jr. describe him the same way: Big heart, caring, selfless to a fault, helping out anyone who is undervalued and underserved, a guardian of his family and everyone he loves.

In short, they call him "the protector."

Being a safeguard is one of Jones' main priorities on the football field at right tackle. The task just seems made for him at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds. It's a role he embraces, keeping quarterback Garrett Nussmeier clean and upright.

Jones' protective nature didn't come from when he first began playing football. It began through loss and was fueled through unconditional love of names he vows to carry with him.

It's a legacy Jones strives to protect.

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Emery Jones and Emery Jones Jr.

Emery Jones Jr. and his father, Emery Sr., were always together when he was a young boy. The elder Emery owns his own sheetrock business, which allowed him to get E.J. on and off the bus for school, attend parent-teacher meetings and award shows while E.J.'s mother, Tanika, worked long hours in hotel management and catering.

Tanika surprised Emery at one of his job sites with the ultrasound picture the day she found out she was pregnant. Emery was on stilts. "He was overjoyed," Tanika said.

When Tanika found out she was pregnant with a boy, she wanted to name him Nicholas. Emery Jones wasn't having it.

"He said, 'We can have another one, but this one is going to be named Emery,'" Tanika recalled with a laugh. "E.J. was his dad's shadow. He loved his son. It was a blessing to see them together in the time they had together."

They loved playing basketball together. Emery never let E.J. win. "I'd cry," said E.J., who found his first sports love on the hardwood, not the gridiron. "It was just like he made me competitive, he made me have that drive to go win no matter what it took."

Five and a half years later, Emery was stricken with an illness. He began suffering from severe stomach issues. Operations were required, along with a colostomy bag.

"His body never recovered," Tanika said.

Six months later, Emery died of a heart attack on Feb. 6, 2009. He was 41. E.J. would turn 6 years old less than a month later.

Jones didn't get a lot of time with his father. But the lasting impression and influence was already instilled in him in those short years.

'He's our protector'

There was a hurt on E.J.'s face the day his family buried his father.

Johnnie Brown Jr., Tanika's father, and E.J.'s granddad, could see it.

"You could see the hurt in him and you could almost see in his eyes, 'I got this,'" Brown said. "'It's going to be alright.' He done everything he could to be there for them as a little boy."

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Jones was devastated his dad was gone. Still, even at 6, he felt a responsibility to step up for his mom, who was then pregnant with his younger sister, Emmie.

Emmie, like her brother, is also named after Emery Jones.

"It kind of made me grow up a little faster," Jones said. "When I was 6, I felt like I was the man of the house. That’s just kind of how it was. If something was broken or something like that, I would do my best to fix it for my mom."

As E.J. grew older, he took that role more seriously, with multiple daily check-ins with his mom and younger sister, answering their calls and making sure they have what they needed.

"With my 13-year-old, he's taken up that responsibility and E.J. acts like Emmie is his kid," Tanika said. "When she needs something, he's like, 'What do you need?'"

Tanika laughed that, today, daily DoorDash "is a big problem." E.J. also buys Emmie shoes and whatever else she may need. LSU's campus is approximately 10 minutes from Tanika's house, so E.J. regularly pops in to check on them.

"If he buys himself something, he's going to buy her something. It makes his day to be able to do that. Him going to Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, he knew it took a lot to make that happen, a lot of sacrifice," Tanika said. "Sometimes he knew we didn't have extra for that with his mom working two jobs. With (Emmie), he understood the struggle of what he went through so he tries to take some of that off of me with her."

Family molded Emery Jones into who he is today

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E.J. quickly noticed when he was young how hard his mother worked.

Those long hours pulling double shifts added up. It also instilled something in E.J. — something he credits his mother with and part of how he's achieved his own goals at LSU and beyond.

"My mother is really strong. I feel like she’s my backbone, my spine," E.J. said. "She keeps me grounded in any situation. She tells me right from wrong, whether I want to hear it or not. That’s what kept me on my path. She’s always been a hard worker, she taught me what it is to be a hard worker."

Brown stepped in and became a major role model for E.J. after his dad's passing. His grandfather bought him his first football helmet and cleats, his first prom suit. E.J. was "independent," Brown called him, but when his grandson went through those rough times and questioning, "Why it had to be his dad?" Brown, along with Tanika, always made sure to point him in the direction of their faith.

"I told him, 'It was fate,'" Brown said. "God had a way and we have to trust God. And he's accepted that that God will make everything alright for him.

"EJ was always a good kid. He took everything in, wasn’t afraid to ask questions. He knows God and know how to respect people."

The legacy of Emery Jones

Brown has had a couple of back surgeries, dating back to before E.J. signed with LSU and arrived on campus, so his grandfather hasn't been able to watch his grandson from the stands. But he watches every game from the comfort of his chair and after every game, Jones knows his phone will ring with notes from his harshest grader.

"He know that he gets a grade after every game," Brown said. "I can see everything on every play. I send him a text before every game, to make sure he knows no penalties and no missed assignments. He takes that to heart.

"I make him give me his (grade) first. He and I are usually on the same page."

Brown said he's handed out some As and even a C to E.J. "He's consistently been a B-plus."

Before every game now, E.J. prays to God and his father. Emery Jones was a big football guy, and a basketball guy as well. Those moments bring E.J. warmth. He feels his dad on those hot fall afternoons in Death Valley.

"I talk to my dad every day," E.J. said. "Before I go on the field, I say, ‘Thank you God,’ and, ‘Dad, just watch over me, protect me, keep my head on right.' I carry on my day like that and I feel him with me all day no matter what I’m doing. I just kind of move like that."

The first time Tanika saw her son run out of the LSU football tunnel with "Jones Jr." on the back, she choked up. The moment she first told Emery they were expecting a baby flashed before her eyes.

Tanika knew how hard conception was. She'd lost a baby in the years before E.J. That carried an emotional toll for her and her husband.

"His dad would be smiling," Tanika said. "I think my husband would be so proud of his son. Not just football. His hard work, dedication, his character, of the man he's becoming. It's more about his character, when he says something, he means it and he's going to stand on it. E.J. is such a good person. I see Emery in Emery Jr. all the time.

"It melts my heart."

Before every game, E.J always receives a motivating text from his mom. Every week, the message remains the same: "You know who you are. Make them know who you are and we're Jones proud."

There's a lot to a name. It's identifiable, it's a vessel for pride and a reason to remain humble. For E.J., his name means all that and more. It means a profound legacy and a guiding light.

"To carry his name means the world to me," Jones Jr. said. "I’ll probably have a son one day in the future and he’ll be the third just because I want to continue that tradition; continue that legacy of Emery Jones."

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz atbdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: How LSU football's Emery Jones has been shaped by loss, love, legacy