TRUSSVILLE, Ala. -- Deacon Jones doesn't do orange.
Jones might be the grandfather of Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson, but his allegiance has always been to the University of Alabama. He played baseball there before a rotator cuff injury cut his career short. His wife, Juanita Jones, was a cheerleader at Alabama. All three of their children graduated from there, and two of the three went on to marry "Alabama people."
"That's as red and white as you can get," Deacon said.
It's no different when you walk in Deacon's office at his home just outside Birmingham. The walls are covered with framed pictures and sports memorabilia. There's the picture he took with Nick Saban. There's another one of the pitching staff Deacon was a member of while at Alabama. There's also a picture of his daughter, Jodie Carlson, posing with Bear Bryant. Jodie, Daniel's mother, worked in the Alabama recruiting department when Bryant was the football coach.
But the item Deacon is most proud of and the one you see when you first walk in the room -- partly because it sticks out like a sore thumb -- is an Auburn No. 38 jersey hanging on the wall.
"Things work out, I really think, like they're supposed to," Deacon said. "I accept things as they happen. I've seen some things happen that I didn't understand at the time, but I look back later on and said, 'That was the best thing that happened.'"
His grandson going to Auburn is one of those instances.
As the son of a man who played tennis for Alabama and a woman who worked for Bear Bryant, Daniel Carlson had no choice growing up. He was going to bleed crimson. His dog was even named Bama.
Though the family lived in Colorado, they still cheered for Alabama every Saturday and would typically make the trip to Tuscaloosa for a game every year. It was an opportunity for Daniel's parents to show him around the campus and take him by the tennis complex or the sorority where his mother used to live.
"I just remember how big the stadium was," Daniel said. "I was a little kid and we rarely got to go, so it was always impressive."
When the time came to pick a school, Alabama wasn't an option.
Deacon still remembers when Daniel, who was in high school at the time, got the call from an Alabama staff member telling him that Saban wanted to meet with him. Grandfather and grandson were driving back from Auburn, and Daniel was flying out to Colorado the next day. They agreed to drive down to Tuscaloosa in the morning and listen to what Saban had to say.
When they arrived, they went to Bryant-Denny Stadium, where there was a camp going on for younger kids. Saban walked by them and, without breaking stride, said, "Follow me." So they followed Saban into a room where he laid out the plan, explaining academics, football and everything in between. Then he told Daniel he wouldn't sign a kicker that he hasn't seen kick and talked about arranging a way to see him kick. The meeting itself took no more than 10 minutes.
"He stood up, shook Daniel's hand. He turned around, said, 'Deacon, I'll see you later,' and he was gone," Deacon said. "So we got in the car and I took him back home. It was that quick."
That was the last time Daniel would talk to Saban until this past summer, four years later, when he came to support his little brother, Anders, at Alabama's kicking camp. When Deacon, Daniel, Anders and the boys' uncle walked into Saban's office after the camp was over, Saban looked at Daniel and said, "I know who you are."
Saban might not have remembered their meeting from four years ago, but it's hard to forget somebody who had made seven field goals against him the past two seasons. Carlson has kept making kicks, hitting on 22 of 25 this season and becoming a finalist for the Lou Groza Award -- given to the nation's top kicker -- for the second consecutive year.
Jodie Carlson can do orange now. She was the only one in the family wearing orange when the family was together in the grandparents' house this week. When it came time to take a family picture, she wore the Auburn scarf a relative had made for her.
She's even planning to wear orange when Auburn plays at Alabama on Saturday.
"I haven't bought anything but orange-and-blue stuff since Daniel signed," Jodie said. "I'm definitely all in the Auburn family."
"I said, 'Turncoat, I don't do Auburn. I'll do some out-of-town games, but I don't do Auburn. I've taken you out of the will and from now on, you'll be known as Turncoat.'" Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson's grandfather
This is the same woman who bailed on a date in college because she was so upset about Alabama losing a football game. She later met her husband on a blind date at a different Alabama football game in Birmingham.
"The only reason he went was because he didn't have a ticket, and I had two," she joked.
Jodie's allegiance to the Tide came from her dad, though, and Deacon wasn't as thrilled when Daniel first committed to Auburn. He and his wife called Daniel that day to give him a hard time about his college choice and even coined the nickname "Turncoat" for their grandson.
"That started with me," Deacon said. "Daniel said he was going to Auburn, so next time I talked to him, he said, 'Now, Bubba, you're going to come to some of my games, aren't you?' I said, 'Turncoat, I don't do Auburn. I'll do some out-of-town games, but I don't do Auburn. I've taken you out of the will and from now on, you'll be known as Turncoat.'"
Deacon might have been kidding about the will, but when he said he didn't do Auburn, he was serious. From 2013 to 2015, he never went to a single one of Daniel's games at Auburn. He'd go see Daniel play at Mississippi State or at LSU -- he wore an Alabama shirt to Daniel's game at Mississippi State -- but he wouldn't step foot on Auburn's campus.
That changed earlier this month when Deacon made the trip to Auburn and watched his grandson make three field goals in a 23-16 win over Vanderbilt.
"He even wore like a pink-orange-colored shirt," Jodie said.
"It was a salmon shirt," Deacon corrected her. "That's as close to orange as I get."
Deacon, Juanita, Jodie, Anders and the rest of the family will be in Tuscaloosa on Saturday to watch Daniel play. There's no telling what color shirt each of them will be wearing or even which team they will be rooting for. It's family, but there's also a lot on the line for No. 1 Alabama. They'd love to see the Tide win another national championship this year.
"We're conflicted," Juanita said. "We love that little fella."
Before you assume anything, the same thing happened two years ago. It was Daniel's first Iron Bowl as Auburn's starting kicker, and Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the country, vying for a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Two days before the game, Daniel left after practice and drove up to his grandparents' house to spend Thanksgiving with his family. It was the last time he'd see any of them until Saturday after the game.
"I remember the last thing Grandpa said was, 'Hey, I hope you kick like four or five field goals and do great, and you still lose,'" Daniel said. "And sure enough, that's what happened."
Daniel made five field goals, including four in the first half, but Alabama rallied in the second half and won the game 55-44.
"He called me that night after the game," Daniel said. "He was really happy. Of course, he was bummed I lost. But at the same time, it's really funny that it actually happened. I think that's almost the ideal scenario for him."
What about this year? What would happen if Daniel had a chance to kick a game-winning field goal at the end of the Iron Bowl to spoil the Tide's perfect season?
"I think I'd like for him to make it," Deacon said.
Deacon might not wear orange. He might have waited until this year to go see Daniel play a game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. But jokes and nicknames aside, nothing is more important than family.
"It's always been in good fun and in good humor," Jodie said. "Our family love is much stronger than any sport."