By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Levi Jones

The day he was drafted by the Bengals, Levi Jones vowed not to forget where he came from.

And 18 months later, Jones is making good on his promise to give back to the people who helped him at home in Eloy, Ariz.

Eloy is a desert town of about 10,000, where 40 percent of school-aged children live in poverty. It is located about 50 miles south of Tempe, where Jones played college ball for Arizona State, and where he and the Bengals will play Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Jones has been no stranger in Eloy, where he embraces the role of role model.

"I remember every step of the way, and it's a good feeling to try to be what I wanted to be when I was at that age, have somebody out there to show I can do it," he said.

Jones was the 10th overall draft pick in 2002. Some draft experts said the Bengals reached to take Jones that early, but he has silenced critics by starting 19 consecutive games at left tackle and stabilizing a key position on the offensive line.

Jones took over after Richmond Webb was injured and lost for the rest of the season in Game 4 last year. Jones has not looked back; the job is his.

"Your left tackle has to be somebody special," quarterback Jon Kitna said. "Levi's doing a great job. He takes a lot of pride in his work. He's never confused. It's what you need on your team: Guys who want to be right at everything they do."

First-year Bengals coach Marvin Lewis inherited Jones and heard the talk that the player could have been available later in the first round.

"I think he has more than paid dividends at where he was picked," said Lewis, who awarded Jones a game ball for his work against Baltimore. "He has stepped up and handled the (other) team's best rushers. That's a big responsibility."

Jones had to prove himself in the NFL, but not in Eloy.

He had a brick house built for his mother, Joyce Robinson, in Casa Grande - a safer and more upscale community. Brick, not frame, is what she wanted and received.

It was the least Jones said he could do for the woman who reared him and two other children alone by working two jobs, in a factory by day and selling cosmetics door-to-door by night. She pushed her youngest child to excel in school, and he earned a full academic scholarship to ASU before receiving a football scholarship.

"I've got such a beautiful yard that I enjoy," said Robinson, who is more thankful for the man her son has become.

"He's not big on himself," she said. "His head's on straight."

Jones also hasn't forgotten the school and church that played big roles in his formation.

His maternal grandfather, the Rev. Votie Smith, was Jones' father figure. He lived next door and was pastor of the West Side Church of God in Christ. He died while Jones was in college, before he could finish the kitchen in the modest new church he built.

Jones is making sure it's getting done. He has purchased appliances and the tile to finish the kitchen, and he also is financing the construction of an outdoor basketball/volleyball court at the church and organization of a youth sports league.

The idea is to reverse slumping church attendance among young people in Eloy. "I don't know what they're finding to do, but it can't be good if they haven't been going to church," Jones said.

He also has made sure to not lose touch with the Santa Cruz Valley Union High School community. Jones is treating any football player who wants to attend Sunday's game with coach Jay Denton - his former coach. But Jones is about more than such grand gestures.

"He just pops up," Denton said. "He showed up unannounced for our homecoming game."

That was during the Bengals' weekend off on Oct. 12. Last winter, Denton didn't know Jones was at a Santa Cruz basketball game until Jones sought out Denton at halftime.

"He was just up in the stands surrounded by kids and talking to them," Denton said.

Aaron McKaney, 16, is a member of the Santa Cruz football team and knows Jones as his former recreation center counselor.

"He always set the example that school comes first," Aaron said. "He made it. So can I."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com