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OK, there is a bit of an age difference between the kids, but 18 children?

“There was a lot of arguing, but at the same time you never wanted for friends,” said Jones, a star for the University of Manitoba Bisons in 2014. “We’re a really close-knit family. Christmas and holidays are always crazy. There are two, sometimes three tables. It was a big house, but it didn’t seem like a big house. We managed. I shared a room with one brother, sometimes two, until I was 18.”

Andrew, an offensive lineman, has won Grey Cups with three different teams — B.C., Toronto and Edmonton. He has been a strong football mentor for his younger bro.

“It’s a bit of a shadow to step out of, but I’m trying to make my own way,” Jones said.

Jones and his girlfriend Brittney paid about $900 to fly into Ottawa on Thursday.

“I’m hungry, I want it,” he said after the tryout, which lasted about three hours. “Any team that gets me into camp will love me. That’s my confidence in my ability. I can say I haven’t been the best numbers guy in the past, but my true skill is in my level of play. I believe I show up for practice and for game days.”

A personal trainer at a Shapes Fitness Centre in Winnipeg, Jones knows what adversity feels like, he knows what it feels like to battle to get something you really want. He spent a year and a half recovering from a torn ACL in 2011. Now, he feels like he’s so close to getting his CFL shot.

“I just need someone to definitively say no to me before I stop trying,” he said.