Popeyes (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The awkward little “Popeyes boy” who became a meme overnight back in 2013 is now a full-grown man, and now the 18-year-old has landed a college football name, image and likeness deal with the famous fast food chicken chain.
According to USA Today, Popeyes signed Dieunerst Collin to an NIL deal, which is a brand sponsorship deal for NCAA athletes.
Collin was just nine when he became an internet sensation after his cousin posted a video of him to Vine back in 2013, prompting him to become a big star on the now-defunct social video sharing app.
He now stands 6 foot 1, and weighs 330 pounds, and is an offensive lineman at New Jersey’s Lake Erie College’s Division II football program. Collin said he never forgot his childhood love of Popeyes, and will promote “that business like crazy.”
“Only thing I can say is that I will be promoting that business like crazy. I actually love Popeyes myself,” Collin wrote.
Many will recognize the high school football standout from his viral internet video, where his cousin turns the camera on Collin and tells the boy to “say oooh (Terrio’s catchphrase)…. Ooh.”
Collin’s legendary eye-roll perfectly captured his incredulousness of the situation as he innocently holds a Popeyes drink cup.
The meme remains one of the most popular even today.
Collin went on to say that the meme actually used to make him uncomfortable, to the point where he said he didn’t even want to walk outside again.
“It would affect me… to the point where it was like ‘I don’t ever want to walk outside ever again.’”
Now, he can celebrate his newly-signed NIL deal, a deal of which wasn’t an option for college athletes only two years ago.
NIL (name, image, likeness) deals were finally allowed back in July 2021, allowing student-athletes at NCAA schools to profit off of their own personal brands by way of merchandizing, social media and more.
Meanwhile, the exact terms of Collin’s NIL deal with Popeyes have yet to be revealed.
