'Popeyes Kid' Dieunerst Collin Signs NIL Deal With Food Chain: PHOTOS

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        Kid From The 'Popeyes Kid' Meme Is All Grown Up—And He Just Signed A Deal With The Food Chain
    

        @FOS/Twitter
    
Dieunerst Collin, now a freshman outside linebacker at Lake Erie College, was offered a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal after becoming one of the most recognizable memes as a child.
By Joanna EdwardsJan 12, 2023
Joanna Edwards
Joanna Edwards wears many hats: student, data-wrangler and LGBTQ+ activist. Her main passion is writing, followed shortly by percussion, mediocre watercolor painting and scuba diving. A New Englander currently displaced to the South, she waits patiently for winter and its more reasonable weather.
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Ah, Vine, how we miss you. 
The now-defunct platform spawned a whole genre of short videos, but also made for prime meme fodder creating some of the more widely used reaction gifs of the last decade. 
The kid in one of the more popular ones, Dieunerst Collin, has grown up and spun childhood meme straw into football sponsorship gold.
As a refresher, this is the meme GIF:
Giphy
That kid? 
He's now a freshman offensive lineman at a Division-II college.
Jim Weber (@JimMWebter/Twitter) figured this out and started a social media campaign to get Popeyes to sign Collin to a NIL deal—the new type of sponsorship college athletes can get after recent NCAA rules changes.
\u201cThe @Popeyes meme kid @CollinDieunerst is now a freshman offensive lineman at Division II Lake Erie College and if this guy doesn't have an NIL deal by tomorrow, the Louisiana kitchen needs to clean house on upper management.\u201d
 — Jim Weber (@Jim Weber)
        1673210934
Collin picked the campaign up quickly after it had started.
"I JUST WANNA TALK" Collin said in an Instagram post he later reposted to Twitter.
See on Instagram
The Popeyes social media team responded on Twitter.
\u201cLet\u2019s get this bread(ing)\u270d\ufe0f\u201d
 — Popeyes (@Popeyes)
        1673403657
Collin held an Instagram live, thanking people for the campaign that got him the deal. 
He said of all the support he received:
"I didn't know the internet was like that."
\u201cDieurnest Collin on IG Live: "I didn't know the internet was like that"\u201d
 — Front Office Sports (@Front Office Sports)
        1673405128
Other social media teams took a moment to comment, or blatantly try to recruit Collin.
\u201c@JimMWeber @Popeyes @CollinDieunerst let's chat over lunch @CollinDieunerst\u201d
 — Jim Weber (@Jim Weber)
        1673210934
\u201c@CollinDieunerst @dieunerst @Popeyes @Popeyes do it for the vine\u201d
 — Dieunerst Collin (@Dieunerst Collin)
        1673213758
\u201c@JimMWeber @Popeyes @CollinDieunerst your team colors are already a match. Hit us up in the DMs if you want to chat \ud83d\ude0e\u201d
 — Jim Weber (@Jim Weber)
        1673210934

\u201c@JimMWeber @Popeyes @CollinDieunerst Gonna need us too\u201d
 — Jim Weber (@Jim Weber)
        1673210934
Commenting on the possibilities of the NIL sponsorship, someone thought of a more innovate option than the usual cash payment.
\u201c@Popeyes Ngl an NIL deal where the compensation is solely spicy chicken sandwiches would be incredible\u201d
 — Popeyes (@Popeyes)
        1673403657
Others were just reminded of the passage of time.
\u201c@FOS @CollinDieunerst we're getting old. Our memes are now in college.\u201d
 — Front Office Sports (@Front Office Sports)
        1673405128

\u201c@FOS @CollinDieunerst Definitely makes me feel old. \n\nGood for him on securing those chicken and biscuits plus the bag!\u201d
 — Front Office Sports (@Front Office Sports)
        1673405128
The decision to sign Collin already has worked out for Popeyes as many commenters said they were going to add a Popeyes' trip to their food plans.
\u201c@Popeyes I\u2019m getting Popeyes tomorrow solely bc of this\u201d
 — Popeyes (@Popeyes)
        1673403657

\u201c@Popeyes We going to Popeyes for dinner tonight!!\u201d
 — Popeyes (@Popeyes)
        1673403657
Really what we learned here is sometimes, memes can really pay off.
\u201c@Popeyes moral of the story: make memes\u201d
 — Popeyes (@Popeyes)
        1673403657
Can't wait for the next meme-to-sponsorship deal to happen, now that companies have realized this is possible.
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Ah, Vine, how we miss you.

The now-defunct platform spawned a whole genre of short videos, but also made for prime meme fodder creating some of the more widely used reaction gifs of the last decade.

The kid in one of the more popular ones, Dieunerst Collin, has grown up and spun childhood meme straw into football sponsorship gold.

As a refresher, this is the meme GIF:

Popeyes kid GIF Giphy

That kid?

He's now a freshman offensive lineman at a Division-II college.

Jim Weber (@JimMWebter/Twitter) figured this out and started a social media campaign to get Popeyes to sign Collin to a NIL deal—the new type of sponsorship college athletes can get after recent NCAA rules changes.

\u201cThe @Popeyes meme kid @CollinDieunerst is now a freshman offensive lineman at Division II Lake Erie College and if this guy doesn't have an NIL deal by tomorrow, the Louisiana kitchen needs to clean house on upper management.\u201d
— Jim Weber (@Jim Weber) 1673210934

Collin picked the campaign up quickly after it had started.

"I JUST WANNA TALK" Collin said in an Instagram post he later reposted to Twitter.

See on Instagram

The Popeyes social media team responded on Twitter.

\u201cLet\u2019s get this bread(ing)\u270d\ufe0f\u201d
— Popeyes (@Popeyes) 1673403657

Collin held an Instagram live, thanking people for the campaign that got him the deal.

He said of all the support he received:

"I didn't know the internet was like that."

\u201cDieurnest Collin on IG Live: "I didn't know the internet was like that"\u201d
— Front Office Sports (@Front Office Sports) 1673405128

Other social media teams took a moment to comment, or blatantly try to recruit Collin.

\u201c@JimMWeber @Popeyes @CollinDieunerst let's chat over lunch @CollinDieunerst\u201d
— Jim Weber (@Jim Weber) 1673210934

\u201c@CollinDieunerst @dieunerst @Popeyes @Popeyes do it for the vine\u201d
— Dieunerst Collin (@Dieunerst Collin) 1673213758

\u201c@JimMWeber @Popeyes @CollinDieunerst your team colors are already a match. Hit us up in the DMs if you want to chat \ud83d\ude0e\u201d
— Jim Weber (@Jim Weber) 1673210934

\u201c@JimMWeber @Popeyes @CollinDieunerst Gonna need us too\u201d
— Jim Weber (@Jim Weber) 1673210934

Commenting on the possibilities of the NIL sponsorship, someone thought of a more innovate option than the usual cash payment.

\u201c@Popeyes Ngl an NIL deal where the compensation is solely spicy chicken sandwiches would be incredible\u201d
— Popeyes (@Popeyes) 1673403657

Others were just reminded of the passage of time.

\u201c@FOS @CollinDieunerst we're getting old. Our memes are now in college.\u201d
— Front Office Sports (@Front Office Sports) 1673405128

\u201c@FOS @CollinDieunerst Definitely makes me feel old. \n\nGood for him on securing those chicken and biscuits plus the bag!\u201d
— Front Office Sports (@Front Office Sports) 1673405128

The decision to sign Collin already has worked out for Popeyes as many commenters said they were going to add a Popeyes' trip to their food plans.

\u201c@Popeyes I\u2019m getting Popeyes tomorrow solely bc of this\u201d
— Popeyes (@Popeyes) 1673403657

\u201c@Popeyes We going to Popeyes for dinner tonight!!\u201d
— Popeyes (@Popeyes) 1673403657

Really what we learned here is sometimes, memes can really pay off.

\u201c@Popeyes moral of the story: make memes\u201d
— Popeyes (@Popeyes) 1673403657

Can't wait for the next meme-to-sponsorship deal to happen, now that companies have realized this is possible.

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Kid From The 'Popeyes Kid' Meme Is All Grown Up—And He Just Signed A Deal With The Food Chain

Dieunerst Collin, now a freshman outside linebacker at Lake Erie College, was offered a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal after becoming one of the most recognizable memes as a child.

Latest News

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