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Nearly 10 years after taking the internet by storm as the side-eyeing “Popeyes meme kid,” Dieunerst Collin is back in the spotlight as a budding college football player with his eyes set on something entirely different: an NIL deal.
Collin’s journey since his viral Vine video from 2013 has led him to Lake Erie College, where the 19-year-old offensive lineman recently wrapped up his redshirt freshman year. On Sunday, Collin again went viral after Twitter users became aware of his whereabouts thanks to a tweet pointing out the potential for a dream collaboration with the fast food chain.
“If this guy doesn’t have an NIL deal by tomorrow, the Louisiana kitchen needs to clean house on upper management,” the tweet read. The overwhelming support eventually caught the attention of Collin, who unofficially kicked off his campaign for an NIL deal with a response aimed directly at Popeyes.
“SAID IT BEST @Popeyes,” Collin tweeted.
However, Collin’s push to catch Popeyes' attention didn’t stop there, as he took to Instagram to keep the momentum going. He shared an Instagram post with his famous meme and a shot of him holding the state championship his high school team won during his senior year along with a caption that read:
“I NEED EVERYONE TO REPOST THIS AND TAG @popeyes I JUST WANNA TALK BUISNESS [sic].”
As of Monday night, the IG post has 30,255 likes. The tweet has over 2,300 likes and 183,000 views on Twitter.
After rising to unexpected fame at nine years old, it would be an unbelievable full-circle moment if Collin secured an NIL partnership with Popeyes. Clearly, the decision shouldn’t be one Popeyes has to chew on long given Collin’s ability to generate engagement.
Collin will enter Year 2 with Lake Erie hoping to resume the success he found during his high school football days. The 6-foot-1, 300-pound lineman won first-team All-Conference, County, and Division honors, and Second Team All-State at East Orange Campus High School in New Jersey. According to Lake Erie, Collin is currently majoring in sports management with a minor in comedian studies and hopes to pursue a career as a sports analyst.
