How a good-luck goldfish found its way into FSU's locker room celebration

Jack Henyecz has certainly made the most of his time as a college student in Tallahassee.

As a freshman at TCC in 2020, the Winter Park native went viral when he brought a sign to Florida State's home game vs. North Carolina which promised he would get a tattoo of FSU head coach Mike Norvell's infamous cornrows photo if the Seminoles pulled off the sizable upset and beat the sixth-ranked Tar Heels.

FSU won the game, giving Norvell his first signature win in Tallahassee, and Henyecz made good on his promise, getting the tattoo on the front of his right leg.

Henyecz admits there were worrisome times when Norvell started out 8-13 in his first two seasons atop the program.

However, with hindsight now of how Norvell would revitalize this program to its former glory with an 18-3 record over the last two seasons, he looks like the first real member of the Norvell bandwagon, so much so that he was willing to permanently ink his body in support of the then-first-year FSU head coach.

"People always ask me if I'm going to get it removed ever," Henyecz told the Osceola. "Definitely not now with the way things are going, but I don't think that ever really crossed my mind."

Three years later, Henyecz is now a senior at FSU. And once again, he's a part of an FSU-centric viral story that speaks to how simultaneously weird and awesome college football can be.

Although this time, he's not the main character. Instead, it's his pet goldfish, Garnet, which is in the spotlight. Because starting with the Seminoles' season opener vs. then-No. 5 LSU back on Sept. 3, Garnet has been in attendance at all eight of FSU football's games this season.

"It really stems from the same thing with the Norvell tattoo. Just kind of sitting there and it flashes in your brain, 'Well, what if I did this?'" Henyecz said. "My immediate response from everyone I said it to was, 'You're actually crazy. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.' That was the same thing with the tattoo as it is with Garnet himself."

Henyecz bought Garnet on Aug. 29, the day after his birthday and five days before the LSU game. Starting with that game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Garnet has been in the front row of whatever stadium the Seminoles are playing at, Doak Campbell Stadium or elsewhere, in a bag, a pitcher or various other means of portable water.

Over the course of the season, Garnet has built a reputation within first the FSU student section and now the fanbase at large, appeared on the video board at Doak Campbell Stadium and taken pictures with the likes of ESPN broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit and FSU president Richard McCullough.

Through eight games, Garnet has seen a whole bunch of wins along with no losses so far. He's begun to be regarded as a good-luck charm by those in the know, a number which grows on a weekly basis.

"When Garnet is in the front row, Florida State doesn't lose," Henyecz said. "That's all that really matters to me."

It didn't begin as something Henyecz wanted to bring attention to over the first few weeks. But now, Garnet has over 4,400 followers on Instagram, more than double the number of followers his owner has, and Henyecz is embracing once again going viral in the FSU football world.

"At first, I wasn't as big on holding him up or showing him off. I just kind of wanted to see where it goes," Henyecz said. "But after our first actual bigger home game, the students really caught on first and I'm glad that now the older alums and adults are starting to catch on, get to be a part of it."

Home games have become quite a well-organized and hectice affair for Henyecz and Garnet this season. While Garnet has a bowl at home -- and is getting a large tank this week -- transportation to games requires keeping him in a bag. That's why the pair have to pass up the copious tailgate invites they have started to receive as Garnet's profile has grown.

"There is a small window of time that we try to have him in the bag. When you're going to away games, that window is longer but we try to keep the water acclimated at a great temperature."

Getting a front-row seat in the student section requires standing outside Doak Campbell Stadium before gates open and rushing in to grab one of the desirable spots right on the edge of the field.

He admits that he and some friends had to sneak Garnet into the first home game of the season, refusing to disclose how. Now, he says that has changed and the Doak Campbell Stadium staff has become very accommodating.

"As much as they might not want me to say this, the staff does just let me walk in with Garnet," Henyecz said. “They actually expect it."

Home games in the rowdy student section also require Henyecz to have a discerning eye of who can safely hold Garnet's bag and who can not. And he always brings an extra bag in his back pocket just in case.

"I've got to figure out in the student section which college kid can hold the fish and which ones shouldn't hold the fish. You can look them in the eyes and realize," Henyecz said. "I don't really drink before the games because I want to make sure that I'm fully alert and aware of what's going on with Garnet at all times."

Once the game ends, he and his friends have a quick route to the car planned out, following an established blueprint to get Garnet back into his bowl at home as quickly as possible.

"Every time, he starts swimming around, you feed him again and he's happy," Henyecz said.

Road trips with Garnet throw further hurdles into the gameday routine. First of all, a few have required flights. That curiosity about bringing fish onto planes was part of what originally created this idea in Henyecz's head when he was about to take a flight earlier this year.

"I was sitting in the airport terminal and I searched if you can bring a live fish on a plane. The TSA official website says 'Checked bag, no. Carry-on, yes.' You do more research and you see people coming home from these exotic fish fairs and I said I'm going to do it..." Henyecz said. "I was one of the last people to board the plane and I was being stared at by 200 passengers that see me carrying a fish on. Where does the fish go when you're on the plane? There is nowhere for it to go so I just have to hold it. There is no sleeping, there's no anything. I'm just sitting in a small seat, gripping the bag for dear life, hoping the fish and the plane will make it safely."

Getting Garnet into unfamiliar visiting stadiums has also presented some challenges. At BC, he was snuck inside a friend's clothes posing as a pregnancy belly. At Clemson, stadium security saw Garnet and allowed him in, but refused to let Henyecz bring in a water bottle.

That day at Clemson, Henyecz and Garnet went onto the field after FSU's 31-24 overtime win over the Tigers and took pictures with a number of Seminoles including Norvell and tight end Jaheim Bell, who appeared (understandably) thrown off by Garnet's presence.

"He was with his mother at the time. I waited until they were done with their hug and they both looked at me and said, 'What in the world is going on?' I explained the quickest summary I could and asked if he wanted to pose for a photo," Henyecz said of the picture with Bell. "(FSU punter) Alex Mastromanno had caught onto it so he took the photo and laughed."

In his wildest dreams, Henyecz wondered if he could get Garnet into the FSU locker room postgame, maybe after the Senior Day game against North Alabama which is very, very unlikely to be competitive.

He didn't even end up having to wait that long. After Saturday's 41-16 win over Wake Forest, FSU safety Conrad Hussey didn't hesitate to take Garnet back to the locker room when Henyecz asked if he would.

"He didn't even bat an eye. He just like, 'Ok,' and he took off," Henyecz said of Hussey.

And so, FSU's good-luck goldfish got to experience what so many FSU fans have surely dreamed of. Getting to experience a postgame FSU locker room celebration in person.

When FSU director of athletics Michael Alford delivered Garnet back to Henyecz afterwards, he informed him that his goldfish got a close-up view of running back Trey Benson breaking the rock.

And when FSU posted its photo and video of Benson breaking the rock, Garnet was featured prominently in the background being held in his bag. Of course, it was Bell holding him, still appearing somewhat skeptical as he did back at Clemson in September.

"Jaheim Bell holding it is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Conrad Hussey took him into the locker room and then Jaheim Bell held him. I don't know who else got to hold him, apparently he went a lot of places..." Henyecz said. "It made it way funnier that Jaheim was holding him because he just looked so awkward in a funny way in it. No disrespect to him. It is awkward holding a fish...

"To actually see the video and see the photo and see them actually post the photo of them pointing at the fish, I was like, 'That's not real.' I feel like I've said that about 20,000 times because nothing has felt real with this fish over the past few weeks."

Of course, Henyecz dressed up as Garnet for Halloween Tuesday night, dressing in orange and wearing a large plastic wrap around him to simulate his fish's gameday environment. In another instance of things not seeming real, he happened to run into FSU quarterback Jordan Travis that night and the two took a picture with Travis holding his bag costume.

"Him holding my fish bag with me as the fish, each day is a new story and a new chapter of nothing makes sense and Tallahassee isn't real."