Florida State fan Jack Henyecz makes good on promise, gets tattoo of coach Mike Norvell in cornrows

Jack Henyecz has been a lifelong Florida State football fan and dreamed since childhood of attending FSU.

He'll get the chance soon when he's expecting to transfer from Tallahassee Community College to FSU. Before he gets the chance to officially be a Seminole, however, the 19-year old Winter Park native already carved out his niche in a bizarre corner of FSU football lore.

Henyecz found Twitter fame after FSU's game against North Carolina Oct. 17 because of the sign that he brought to the game. The sign said that he would get a tattoo of FSU head coach Mike Norvell's infamous cornrows picture from his time as a wide receiver at Central Arkansas if the Seminoles upset the No. 6 Tar Heels.

It was a bet that seemed safe at the time. The Tar Heels were 14-point favorites and FSU's only win that season entering the game was against FCS opponent Jacksonville State.

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It didn't take long for Henyecz to realize the error of his ways. The Seminoles roared out to a 31-7 halftime lead, holding off UNC's second-half charge to bring home one of the bigger wins in recent program history, a 31-28 victory.

Even though he never saw himself getting a tattoo -- he's not really a fan of them -- Henyecz couldn't help but cheer during the final drive of the game as the Seminoles clinched the victory with a UNC turnover on downs.

"Even though, at the same time, I wouldn't be sitting here with a tattoo on my leg and that may be a little bit better, I was still cheering," Henyecz told the Democrat.

"I still wanted them to win even with the consequence of me getting a tattoo. With that last drive, the band was on the student section side and they had the full band so it was extra loud, everybody was doing the Warchant. Before each play, I was screaming and banging my legs to the point where my sides hurt."

Henyecz made good on his word this week. Just over a week before the Seminoles' next home game Saturday vs. Pitt, he got the tattoo done on the side of his right leg.

It's done in stellar greyscale detail with the date of the game and the final score under the portrait of Norvell smiling while holding a football with his long hair braided into cornrows atop his head.

"It's on the side of my right leg, high enough to wear it can be covered almost fully by my boxers, which is great because I don't really like tattoos. I never planned on getting one..." Henyecz said.

"It is weird when I go out in pants and somebody asks, 'Hey, can I see your leg?' It's really weird for me to have to pull down half of my pants."

To make things easier for himself on Halloween night, he cut out an area of an old pair of gym shorts to make his tattoo visible at all times so he wouldn't have to keep shifting clothes for every person who asked to see it.

Henyecz was raised to be an FSU fan by his father, who graduated from FSU early in Bobby Bowden's time atop the football program. He's attended at least one FSU game a year for his entire life and only applied to one university, FSU, out of high school.

Even though he's spending this football season as a TCC student, he's making the most of finally living in the same town as his favorite football team.

He originally pondered making the same sign for FSU's game against Jacksonville State with the caveat that he would get the tattoo if the Seminoles lost to their FCS opponent. He decided against this, however, as he didn't want it to be associated with what would have been a very negative moment in program history.

The week of the UNC game, with some encouragement from a few friends, he decided the UNC game would be when he would make the sign and put it all on the line. 

One problem?

He didn't think to tell his parents he was doing it before his sign went viral.

"I didn't really post anything about it or send it to my mom or my dad. They didn't really have any clue until it started to be posted by other people..." Henyecz said.

"My mom is still texting me right now not believing that any of it's happening. She called me (the day I got the tattoo) and asked if this was really happening. I was like, 'Honestly, mom, I think it's too late to back out now.'"

Even though he never imagined himself getting a tattoo, he never considered backing out. His main hang-up about getting the tattoo was the cost.

He was talking to Madison Social and a few other local restaurants about them chipping in to help pay for it before Emilio Rodriguez, an FSU grad who is a tattoo artist and firefighter in the area, offered to do the tattoo for free.

"The whole thing was a super nice experience with him. We had talked on the phone for a week or so about how we wanted to do it, no coloring, just greyscale, how he was practicing so much and so excited to do it," Henyecz said.

"The goal was to get it done before the Nov. 7 home game so that I can walk around with my leg out. The whole thing was very well put together and honestly surprising with the result and how good it looks."

Henyecz shared the picture of the tattoo on social media Friday night. Within hours, Norvell shared it on his Twitter account, saying, "Two prime examples of college decisions gone bad. Never know when they will come back to haunt you! Wear it proud and can always tell one hell of a story!"

Norvell included a series of accompanying hashtags, one of which was #SorryToHisFutureSpouse.

The next morning, the hosts of ESPN's College GameDay were discussing his tattoo with an image of it featured on the broadcast.

"I woke up the next morning with hundreds of videos sent to me of me being on GameDay," Henyecz said.

"I used to watch GameDay every day when I was a kid before my Pop Warner football games. The one GameDay I should have watched, I didn't."

In the days since he got the tattoo, he ran into a few FSU football players out in public. The irony of them asking him for a photo was not lost on the Seminole diehard.

The million-dollar question is if Henyecz is a believer in the man he now has permanently inked on his body. The moment that led to his tattoo is the bright spot in a disappointing season to date for the Seminoles.

It's clear talking to him that Henyecz is quite aware of the situation Norvell inherited and cautiously optimistic about the future.

"It's hard. He has three sets of players, (Jimbo Fisher's) old players, (Willie) Taggart's players and his as well. It's a very hard spot to be in for him and I understand that," Henyecz said.

"I do believe that hopefully in the years to come by at least my senior year, I'll be seeing a team that will be competing for at least ACC Championships. That would be a great thing to see because that's all I've wanted to see my entire life, a competitive Florida State team while I was in college."