These days, as opposed to the times when money was tight, there is plenty to go around.

There were Christmases when the boys received no presents. They wore patched jeans and hand-me-downs, and their parents somehow made six pork chops feed nine mouths. Nineteen years separate the oldest Jones child from the youngest, but each still sprinkles sentences with “yes, sir” and “no, ma’am.”

“Your bond with your family got you through those times,” said Thomas A. Jones, the father whom everyone calls Big Thomas. “Nobody goes to Wal-Mart and buys a cup of happiness. That’s how two children can come from where they came from, go to where they are and hold on to what they have.”

Some brothers, like quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, seem to have been born into professional football. Others, like the twins Ronde and Tiki Barber, made their mark with quick feet and photogenic smiles. What stands out for the Jones brothers is the speck of a town they grew up in and emerged from, nourished at all times by family.

Thomas Q. Jones, the son whom everyone calls Little Thomas, said the brothers always had to prove themselves. “Constantly,” he said. “Over and over again.”

Race was a factor at times, particularly away from home during their high school football and basketball careers. They were two African-Americans at a predominantly white school in an overwhelmingly white town. Those from opposing schools sometimes waved rebel flags, and there was the occasional taunt at road games.