Clint Kelly was still in the hospital when he realized what he had done. It was too late. The ink on the birth certificate was already dry.
He was getting ready to leave the hospital with his wife, Kacy, and their newborn daughter when the text message arrived. It was from a mutual friend of the Kellys.
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Clint is a Georgia fan raised in Atlanta. Kacy is a Tennessee fan.
The couple from Charleston, S.C., attended the Tennessee-Georgia game together almost three years earlier, when Jauan Jennings caught a Hail Mary to beat the Bulldogs.
Earlier this year, they agreed on a name for their daughter, who arrived on June 24: Jennings Lee Kelly.
As in, Jauan Jennings.
Kacy assumed Clint would find out eventually, but their Tennessee fan friend Morgan couldn’t help but gloat at what her friend had pulled off.
“I was just like, ‘Oh, you gotta be kidding me. This is ridiculous,’” Clint Kelly said. “I love the name, in spite of the backdrop to the story, how it evolved and how they conveniently forgot to tell me until everything was signed.”
(Courtesy of Kacy Kelly)
Clint and Kacy tried for three years to have their first child after getting married. Throughout that time, as they dreamed of their future family, they’d occasionally discuss baby names.
Early in their marriage, the two attended Tennessee’s win against Georgia together. From the sixth row on the 30-yard line at Sanford Stadium, they watched with a group of friends as Jacob Eason hit Riley Ridley with a 47-yard touchdown pass deep down the left side of the field.
“I just told the Georgia fans around me congratulations,” Kacy said.
Early in the game, as Georgia twice opened up a double-digit lead, Kacy got mad enough to leave the stands. But she returned for the final minutes, and her Vols seemingly broke her heart once more when Georgia took the lead with 10 seconds left.
“I was talking some trash, but not as bad as she does,” Clint said.
And then Josh Dobbs to Jennings happened. The Hail Mary kept Tennessee in the driver’s seat in the SEC East race and cemented Jennings’ place forever in Tennessee lore.
Of course, to Georgia fans, Jennings was just “that guy who caught the Hail Mary.” Kacy used that to her advantage as they discussed names in the years that followed. The couple’s silver Labrador is already named Smokey, and she hoped Clint wouldn’t realize she was dipping back into the Tennessee well to name their daughter.
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Kacy had suggested Jennings as a girl’s name, but she also brought up “Waylon” as a boy’s name because both are big Waylon Jennings fans. Clint made the connection she’d hoped he would and didn’t make the connection she’d hoped to prevent.
Last year, using in vitro fertilization, the Kellys finally conceived, and the name discussion got real. Kacy was convinced it was a boy and had a list of almost 20 boy names and just a couple girl names.
When she was wrong, she started the full sell on Jennings. Kacy and Clint have grandmothers who go by Lee, so settling on the middle name was easy.
(Courtesy of Kacy Kelly)
But when that text message arrived after Jennings’ birth, Clint was confused at first.
“I was like, ‘Wait, what? Y’all have a receiver named Jennings?’” he said.
“Yes, Jauan Jennings,” the Kellys’ friend, Morgan, texted. “She probably told you it was a family name. She got you good.”
Told about his namesake’s existence, Jauan Jennings’ eyes lit up as he smiled ear to ear.
“Whaaaaaaaat?” he said, with a laugh. “That’s awesome. You’d never think something like that would come. It’s different, but it’s cool.”
The senior wide receiver was also told of the circ*mstances surrounding the baby’s story.
“Her dad’s a Georgia fan but her mom’s a Tennessee fan?” he said. “How’d she pull that off? Tell her I think that’s really cool.”
Kacy also let her Vols fan flag fly throughout the pregnancy. She put together a birth announcement that featured their initial ultrasound edited onto the Jumbotron at Neyland Stadium and wrote up the announcement in the Notes app, the apparatus of choice for almost every recruit for years.
(Courtesy of Kacy Kelly)
“First, praise be to God for blessing us everyday & answering our prayers. Secondly, we truly appreciate all of you who have reached out with prayers, love, & support during this long process. With that being said, Baby Kelly has found a home sweet home & has OFFICIALLY COMMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE 7-9-19,” the announcement read, citing the due date.
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“Interviews aren’t possible at this time. Please respect the decision. #GBO.”
Kacy was in charge of the baby announcement and mailed it to friends without her Georgia fan husband getting a preview.
“He wasn’t happy,” Kacy said.
“Ridiculous,” Clint said. “I was just like, ‘Oh, geez.’”
He got over it, and after the long process that preceded her arrival, it was impossible to sweat the small stuff.
“She’s our little Hail Mary,” Clint said.
Saturday night, as Kacy was celebrating her daughter’s namesake’s career night with 174 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Vols’ 41-21 win over South Carolina, former Vols offensive lineman Khalil McKenzie posted a tweet that went viral.
Can’t wait to coach up lil white kids named Jauan in 10-15 years in Tennessee at football camps damn near might tear up
— Kahlil McKenzie Jr. (@Kahlil_Mckenzie) October 26, 2019
Too late.
“I got tagged in it like 20 times,” Kacy said. “I thought that was pretty funny.”
Life has changed a lot after Jennings’ arrival. The family is renovating its home in Charleston, but watching Tennessee games has become an exercise in self-control for Kacy.
“It’s pretty entertaining just to watch her watch games,” Clint said.
After Baker Mayfield rallied Oklahoma from a two-touchdown, fourth-quarter deficit in 2015, Kacy’s phone screen was just as shattered as the Vols’ hopes and dreams. After the Vols survived Appalachian State in overtime in their 2016 opener, “The remote needed a little repair work,” Clint said.
“I’ll joke with her, ‘OK, you’re not allowed to hold the baby during Tennessee games,’” Clint said. “It’s for safety purposes.”
“I’ve gotten better since we’ve had a baby,” Kacy said.
This year, in their split-loyalty household, Saturday usually means a difficult decision on wardrobe. When Georgia hosted Notre Dame, Jennings was decked out in all red.
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“I’m pushing her to Georgia. If she’s gonna wear orange, at least it could be Clemson orange,” Clint said.
“First of all, Clemson doesn’t play anybody. And Georgia chokes every year, so, nah, I’m good with Tennessee,” Kacy said.
The real question is what Jennings wears for the Georgia-Tennessee showdown next fall.
“Hopefully, she’ll be tailgating in Athens next year,” Kacy said.
If history is any guide, bet on Jennings showing up in an orange onesie.
And maybe a No. 15 jersey.
(Top photo of Jauan Jennings: Jeffrey Vest / Getty Images)
David Ubben is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football. Prior to joining The Athletic, he covered college sports for ESPN, Fox Sports Southwest, The Oklahoman, Sports on Earth and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, as well as contributing to a number of other publications. Follow David on Twitter @davidubben
