'El Paso pride everywhere I go': Aaron, Alvin Jones love trip back home for charity event

The all-star lineup at the A&A All the Way Foundation Charity Softball Game , loaded with both former UTEP stars and El Pasoans who hit the big time, speaks to the growing talent in the Sun City.

A decade and a half ago, when Aaron and Alvin Jones were becoming varsity athletes at Burges, El Paso wasn't where it is now in that respect, but it did produce an NFL quarterback in Burges' John Skelton , who played with the Arizona Cardinals. That was about the only local NFLer Aaron Jones got to see first hand and he remembers what that meant.

That begins to speak to why he and his twin Alvin love coming back to their hometown to stage what is now an annual event . Thursday night was the third A&A all-star softball game and there will be more.

"Giving back to the community, being back here for the youth - if you can see it, you can attain it, you can touch it," Aaron said 90 minutes before he took the field for the game that has been staged since 2022. "I did have that with John Skelton from Burges, I could see it, feel it, touch it. That was my way of seeing it.

"That's what we want to do here this weekend. We're all about the youth, letting them see these athletes who played sports. They may not be from El Paso, but they are willing to give back to El Paso because it's all about the youth. That's big to me."

Said Alvin: "We want to show the kids anything they want to do is attainable. This city means a lot to us. We want to keep giving back, keep bringing people in and show the kids, anything you want to do you can."

A case in point was 15-year-old Eastwood student Matthew Orona, who was wearing a brand new Aaron Jones Packers jersey.

"I like Aaron Jones, I've always looked up to him," said Orona, who was one of about 2,000 fans at the game. "This means a lot, he came from a small town and was able to go big in the NFL."

By far the most popular jersey at Southwest University Park was the No. 11 of Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons , followed by Jones' Packers jerseys. Only a handful of people had the new gear, Jones' No. 33 Vikings jersey. Aaron Jones made the move from Green Bay to Minnesota in March.

Some of this led to the rather comical sight of Aaron Jones signing Dallas Cowboys gear for fans who surely realized he has been a Cowboy killer in his career despite Dallas being his childhood favorite team.

The fans in Parsons jerseys could have been a little disappointed, as he was a late scratch after missing a flight in Lubbock.

"That's OK, I wanted to see Micah Parsons but it's cool I get to see Aaron Jones and everybody else," said 13-year-old Adrian Gonzalez, one of the fans in a Parsons jersey.

Other than Aaron and Alvin Jones, that left it to Tristen Newton to draw the loudest cheers. He was drafted by the Indiana Pacers about two hours before the game and he pulled out a Pacers cap to show the crowd, who cheered highlights of him on the scoreboard.

"El Paso, I'm grateful," he said.

Being back in El Paso always means a lot to the Jones' and family. Aaron has now relocated to Minneapolis after getting picked up by the Vikings this offseason, but he has always made his love of El Paso known, such as when he scores touchdowns and flashes El Paso's 915 area code at TV cameras.

"We're excited to come back and give back to El Paso, to say El Paso is our home," Aaron said. "I carry El Paso pride everywhere I go, I represent it on the football field. When I score I put up the '915.' I truly feel like El Paso is on this journey with me and I thank them for all the support and love.

"This is our way of giving back to the community, the softball game and also the football camps."

Most celebrities had El Paso ties, but not all.

"The athletes who come here can see how the city of El Paso gets behind athletes," Aaron Jones said. "They get to experience that El Paso atmosphere, that El Paso culture. People who come here always are willing to come back. They like El Paso."

Local pro boxer Brandon White, on Alvin's Team Vino, figured that out long ago.

"I'm not originally from El Paso, but when I did come here, they welcomed me with open arms," he said. "This is home for me, it's been home for quite some time. It feels good to give back, it feels great to be a part of this. There's a lot of us doing professional sports and the support we get here is unmatched."

John Bohannon, also on Team Vino, was new to El Paso when he came to play basketball at UTEP early last decade, and while Dallas is his home now, this is always special for him.

"El Paso is my second home, I have a son who lives here," Bohannon said (his son is 9). "I always try to give back and I'm grateful to have this opportunity and to be in this game. I'll always love El Paso."

While players were motivated to play this game for altruistic reasons, there was a game and they admitted they wanted to win. That's especially true for Alvin and Aaron, who had the normal amount of sibling rivalry growing up but now don't get to play that out very often as adults.

"It's bragging rights for the whole year," Aaron said. "We grew up competing against each other, now this is the only competing we do against each other. We work together, we do everything together, so getting the competition is fun."

They showed it, at several points running on the field together to argue opposing viewpoints to the beleaguered umpires. At the end of the night, Aaron's Team Showtyme staged a dramatic rally with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to win 15-13.

This series looks like it could go seven games, but this will be it until next June.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 'El Paso pride everywhere I go': Aaron, Alvin Jones love trip back home for charity event