Eric Berry spent most of his football career setting the standard high for his younger brothers Evan and Elliott to chase.
Yet when Eric's football future faced its biggest obstacle, the twins were there to offer support and train with him as he chased a return to the NFL following his cancer diagnosis.
Evan and Elliott were nearing the end of their freshman season at Tennessee in November 2014 when chest pain following Kansas City's game against Oakland prompted Eric to consult the Chiefs' team physicians. Through tests they found a softball-sized mass that two weeks later was diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In less than seven months, though, the older brother was declared cancer-free and resumed his career. And he won the NFL's comeback player of the year award for 2015.
As the NFL star signed autographs prior to Thursday's Best of Preps banquet at the Chattanooga Convention Center, Berry reflected on his brothers' roles in helping him battle his way back to the field.
"I leaned on them a lot, because a lot of the things that I told them that I learned about life and adversity, they were able to give that back to me," Berry said. "It was only a few people who sat in the room with me during chemo, and my brothers, they pretty much broke the rule because you're only supposed to have one person in there with you.
"They were like, 'Nah, we're both coming in.' They both sat down with me while I was getting my chemotherapy and stuff. It makes the whole process go by faster, when you have people that sit and talk and joke around and take your mind off of it."
As Eric worked his way out of treatment and prepared for his comeback, last offseason afforded the three brothers their most extensive time together since his Volunteers career began in 2007. The seven-year age gap previously prohibited the Berrys from training together, but now they were able to handle similar weight-room workouts and on-field drills.
"We spent a whole month together," Eric said, "and that's the longest we've ever had ever since I went to college, and that was just a blessing in disguise."
Growing up, the brothers competed in everything from sports and grades to video games. Eric wanted to give the twins something for which to shoot when they got older. With the Volunteers, he set the bar almost impossibly high.
His three-year career included two All-America selections, the Southeastern Conference's defensive player of the year award in 2008 and the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back in 2009.
He's no longer the only All-American in the family, though, as Evan earned such recognition for his exploits as a kickoff returner last season.
The first of Evan's three kick-return touchdowns came against Western Carolina with Eric present at Neyland Stadium.
"The reason why I was so excited was because we talked on the phone the night before, and he said he was going to return it," Eric recalled. "I was just like, 'Go ahead and do it. The only thing holding you back is you, so if you're going to do it, just do it.' I had my hands up the whole time, because he said he was going to do it.
"I knew if they kicked it to him, it was over with. Usually when he says he's going to do something, he does it. I was just excited it actually came true."
Saturday night meetings for his Sunday games with the Chiefs sometimes keep Eric from catching Tennessee's games, though he'll always try to watch the opening kickoff, especially if Evan, who also wears No. 29 as the Berrys honor former Vol Inky Johnson, is awaiting it.
Eric made a handful of weekend visits to Knoxville to see his brothers this spring, which gave him a chance to see up close the Vols work toward what could be a special season in 2016.
"I'm around a lot of the players up there, and just their focus right now is on a different level," Eric said. "I think they know how close they are to being a great team, and they know what they messed up on last year. They're really trying to eliminate all the room for error with their workouts and their study habits and everything that they're doing during the offseason.
"They're trying to get rid of all of that stuff and make sure they control their own destiny, and I think that's what the focus is this year."
Tennessee last played in the SEC championship game in 2007 when Eric was a freshman, but the Vols have hopes of ending that drought and reaching Atlanta this December.
"It's definitely exciting, because it's a process," Berry said. "It's not something that happened overnight. I think the patience that's been taking place - not only with the players and the coaches but the fans and everybody around UT football - it took everybody collectively because there were some years where it could be pretty stressful.
"A lot of people have got to understand it's a process, but now to see we're right on that brink of being a great team, if we just handle what we need to handle, then it'll be pretty exciting."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com