By Jeff Darlington | Published Sept. 24, 2014

ATLANTA -- That May night four months ago melted into mourning as soon as Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White answered his cellphone to a call that would forever change his life. Something terrible happened. Something tragic.

It was about his brother. Somebody had shot him outside of a South Carolina nightclub -- and he didn't survive. The truth seemed unfathomable: Tyrone Moore Jr., one of the most important people in White's life, was stolen away at 21 years old.  

"My life just changed so fast, so instantly," White said. "You know, losing probably, right behind my kids, the second person that, you know ... the second person I love so much in life."

While there might have been no way to ease the pain of this past offseason, somebody was about to try. And that is where this story begins. Not with a tragedy too personal and too recent to vividly recount -- but with a friendship that cemented itself in a moment when White needed it most.

"It was good, you know, because Julio was with me when I found out," White said.

Perhaps it should be no surprise that Julio Jones was alongside Roddy White when tragedy struck. After all, they are together much more often than they are apart. 

This time, they were in Baltimore, preparing to attend the Preakness Stakes horse race. And at that moment, three years after White first mentored Jones, it was Jones' turn to be the rock.

"It solidified our friendship," said White, who is older than Jones by seven years. "Every day, he called me and checked up on me, asked me how I was doing; came down for the funeral; showed up at the house. You know, that was really, really special to me. I needed him to get through that."

More accurately, they both needed each other to get through this difficult year. No longer does anyone inside the Falcons' locker room view White and Jones merely as teammates who play the same position -- now they are best friends who share an unbreakable bond.

Exactly 10 days after a bullet took the life of White's brother in South Carolina, Jones faced his own family hardship: Jones' brother suffered an accidental gunshot wound that required him to have his arm amputated in Alabama. In the wake of their most trying season professionally, things had become far more trying personally.

"It's just been difficult for us, but you know, difficult times bring people that love each other together," White said. "That's what I thought it did for us. Just going to Julio's house after he went through the situation (with his own brother), you know, it just shows that you can get through adversity and bad times in life when you just stick with the people that love you."

They're like Fred and Barney. Jerry and George. Jay and Silent Bob. Andy and Red.

"We're best friends," White said. "You know, we have so many similar things going on in life, it's just easy to talk to him. He's always going to be completely honest with me -- and I'm always going to be the same with him. We can get through things together." 

It is, indeed, true that their backgrounds have plenty of parallels. Both were raised in the South (White in South Carolina, Jones in Alabama) with athletic upbringings and very strong connections to their mothers. They both went to school in Alabama (White at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Jones at the University of Alabama), and both ended up as first-round selections by the Falcons (White in 2005, Jones in 2011).

And yet, even with all of those similarities, this friendship was never guaranteed. In fact, at a position that is often played by the most ego-driven, hypersensitive athletes, it is actually somewhat incredible that they are friends at all.

One afternoon in 2008, White was fed up. Who did this assistant coach think he was? How could he dare come into White's world, after the wide receiver had already established himself as a legitimate player, and act like such a tough guy?

"Well, I was especially hard on him during practice that day," said Robiskie, who first started coaching in the NFL in 1982 -- one year after White was born -- and joined the Falcons before White's fourth season. "I was cussing and shoving him and swearing at him. I was prodding him, saying, 'This is how we're going to do it.' "

So when practice ended, Robiskie recalls, he caught wind that White was walking around the locker room telling teammates that he was going to fight his coach. He was going to find him in a dark alley and jump him.

"Later that day, I figured I'd go to his house," Robiskie said. "I drove over there to tell him that I was going to challenge him like he's never been challenged before. I told him he was going to meet the challenge -- or we were going to fight right there.

"Fortunately, his mother was there. His grandmother was there. And his great grandmother was there. Let's just say, as an old man, I was able to communicate with them quite well. Never had a problem with Roddy since."

It was the beginning of an important relationship for White. Not only did Robiskie show White what it would take to be a professional on the field -- he began to help him become more accountable away from it. Robiskie's entrance into White's life also launched another very influential relationship that would help the receiver get to this point. It was a bond with former Falcons wide receiver Joe Horn, who did for White what White would eventually pay forward to Jones.

"I don't think Roddy would be Roddy today if he didn't have a guy like Joe Horn," Robiskie said. "He was outstanding for Roddy's growth."

Yes, White still struggles at times to resist generating unnecessary attention (generally through social media), but those closest to him know how far he has come. His late nights at Atlanta nightclubs, for instance, began to subside when Robiskie entered the picture. And his focus on the game began to take priority.

The result?

White was named to his first of four Pro Bowls after that 2008 season. Two years later, in 2010, he led the NFL with 115 receptions. He had found his groove. This, it seemed after the most prolific receiving season in franchise history, was his team.

So by the time Jones walked through that door, even if White had some quiet hesitations, he'd reached a place -- both mentally and physically -- that allowed him to welcome the rookie with open arms.

"I knew we needed him to win games," White said. "You learn a lot just going through this league and not making the playoffs -- and then being able to get there and needing people to get you over the hump. Julio can do so much on the football field, and he's a game changer. Any time you get guys like that, you try to do as much as possible to get them going as fast as possible."

Through hardship and heartache, through tough times and tragedy, White and Jones have become something so much more than teammates. They have created the type of friendship that lasts a lifetime.

"Before every game, I tell my teammates that I love them so much," White said. "I always tell them, because with football, you never know when this thing can end. I just want to tell them that so we can go out there and have as much fun as possible.

"And that's the beauty of the game."

Follow Jeff Darlington on Twitter @JeffDarlington.