Pitmaster Jon Jaffin, a member of the group and owner of the soon-to-open Ford’s BBQ in Tucker, Ga., has been up since 7 pm the previous evening, cooking low and slow over charcoal and oak for 18 hours.
The beautifully golden brown 100-lb snout to tail sensation serves hundreds who buy plates that support the Fugees Academy, a program that offers scholastic and soccer programming for young refugees in Clarkson, Ga.
The smell is unmistakable to anyone who’s attended an SEC football Saturday, but it’s just one of many at home in The Gulch, where the Faction rotates the grub on offer every match day.
“It’s good to have different things,” Jaffin says. “BBQ, Peruvian, Central American … it represents the whole city.”
They eat together, they cheer together and they stand as one.
All of the supporters groups not only get along, they are supporters of each other. Faction folks introduce you to their friends at Terminus Legion, who in turn introduce you to Footie Mob, who introduce you to their Resurgence family and around again.
Each also welcomes in the newest unofficial group, All Stripes, a collection of LGBTQ fans and allies. David Prophitt, one of the All Stripes founders, says, “We want to provide a space for everybody.”
Their first tailgate was a hit and, they hope, a strong start toward becoming officially recognized.
“Thinking about how diverse Atlanta is, that’s really important, and we want to be a part of that,” says Prophitt, a former soccer star at Milton High School.