Today is #OperationDeeDayAU2018, and Dee Ford owes it to Jay Jacobs.
Five years ago, former athletic director Jacobs tweeted who he thought was former Auburn Football player Dee Ford, congratulating him on being MVP of the Senior Bowl.
He tweeted @dee_ford, "a boring surveyor from Kent," as her Twitter bio says, instead. In a sweep of similar mistakes, Auburn fans across the platform began showering her with congratulations.
Tweeters could have taken one quick glance at the account they were tagging to find Ford and her Tibetan Terrier, Muppet, in the profile photo.
"Nobody believed that I wasn't him," Ford said. "Ever since then, I have been riding this wave of people who have been tweeting me like I was him."
She ran with it. Instead of breaking the silence on her true identity, she began "picking at what people say."
Now, she is Auburn's most coincidental super fan.
In the first letter sent by Jacobs to Ford in 2014, he said, "You are now part of the 'Auburn Family' as we call it, so don't be surprised if you are greeted with a hearty 'War Eagle!' when wearing your Auburn gear."
The two eventually met over drinks in London as a traditional pub.
Ford said she has been trying to get to Auburn for the past three years and finally had the time. What she didn't expect was the response to her decision to visit The Plains. Invitations began flooding in when she announced she'd be making the hop, skip and jump across the pond.
She said she assumed she would be in cheap seats, craning to see Jarrett Stidham shove the ball across the line. Instead, she took her seat in the Broadway Club.
It is her second time in America and first time in Alabama. Ford is from Gillingham, Kent, in Southeast England.
She had never watched an American football game before standing on the sideline for the Liberty vs. Auburn game. Standing alongside Auburn President Steven Leath and Greene in her fuzzy Auburn blue sweater, one could not tell.
"I didn't think there would ever be an opportunity like this come my way," Ford said as she looked around Jordan-Hare. "It has been absolutely amazing from start to finish. I am completely mindblown."
In addition to meeting the Greene and Leath, Ford met head coach Gus Malzahn and tweeted a photo of their introduction. She met Deshaun Davis and Stidham, too.
Meeting Malzahn has been the greatest surprise of the experience, by far. Ford is headed to Waffle House after the Liberty game because of Malzahn's tradition. She hopes she'll be able to roll the trees before chowing down on a plate of waffles.
"[Being on the field] is the icing on the cake, but to meet someone that I have heard about and seen and that we all talk about, it's just too fantastic," Ford said.
She said the experience has gone "completely mad." She expected to fly in, be Auburn's regular tourist and leave. Instead, she has been treated like royalty and she said she hasn't fought it.
Ford said she is looking forward to a relaxing Sunday morning and a smooth flight to her next stop later that evening to New York City.
"[The Auburn Family] has showed itself so obviously this weekend," Ford said. "They have welcomed me in with open arms. It's amazing."
Ford said she has one message for Auburn fans:
"Thank you for welcoming me into the Family. I am so pleased."
Here's some more tweets from Ford:
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