He became a meme at age 9. A decade later, this college football player has the last laugh: a deal with Popeyes

[Spartan]

 

Dieunerst Collin, standing before a new Popeyes billboard that bears his image.

Courtesy Popeyes

CNN  — 

College freshman Dieunerst Collin’s road to internet meme fame started with a confused side-eye at a Popeyes in New Jersey.

It was a decade ago, and the then 9-year-old was in line waiting for a family pack of chicken, biscuits and fries at the fast-food chain in Irvington. A stranger pulled out his phone and started recording Collin, comparing him to Lil TerRio, a boy who was famous on social media at the time for his dance moves.

Collin, holding a Popeyes lemonade cup, gave the man a sideways glance, wondering why he had a camera in his face. The stranger later posted a clip on Vine, the video-sharing app, where it went viral and became widely used as a GIF to express unease or bewilderment, along with captions such as “When your teacher catches you cheating on a test.”

A decade later, Collin is a freshman on the football team at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, and he’s come full circle. Popeyes signed the 18-year-old this month for a sponsorship that will use his name, image and likeness on billboards and other advertisements for the fast-food restaurant.

He’s finally cashing in his six seconds of internet fame – although his family was not thrilled about it at first.

“When it happened, we didn’t want to be in the spotlight. And just having that out there, people were coming to my dad and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve seen your kid on this,’ trying to make a joke of it. My dad didn’t like it for his kids to be joked on,” Collin told CNN. “But now, the fact that I switched it into a blessing, he likes it.”

Collin is cashing in on a NCAA policy that allows college athletes to earn sponsorship money

A name, image and likeness deal – commonly referred to as an NIL – allows college athletes to receive compensation from brand partnerships that use their name, image or likeness for marketing and promotional content. The deals stem from an NCAA policy change in 2021 that allows student-athletes to profit from sponsorship opportunities.

Popeyes announced the deal this month after a social media campaign by Collin and his fans. To kick off the partnership, the fast-food chain posted an Instagram video of Collin narrating his unlikely tale.

“This is where our story started,” he says in the video with the viral image of him at Popeyes in the background. “The moment that made us a meme. We didn’t ask for it. We didn’t understand it. But don’t worry little man, we didn’t let it stop us. Because the more we grew, the tougher we got. We learned to lean in. We turned the attention into motivation and the motivation into championships. This is where our story started and now it’s where a new one begins.”

 

 

[Spartan]

[tennisluvrredux]

Still looks very unhealthy although he's an athlete, Popeye's ki addicted emo papam aa fried foods thini thini body ala ayipoyindi

[ramudu]

13 minutes ago, tennisluvrredux said:

Still looks very unhealthy although he's an athlete, Popeye's ki addicted emo papam aa fried foods thini thini body ala ayipoyindi

I don't know why people fight for their chicken sandwich , valla friend chiken ni pinduthy oil daragaa karuthadi .... yearly once thintee ekkuvaa anipisthadi