January 11, 2023
He Did It! ‘Popeyes Meme Kid’ Who Now Plays Football, Gets NIL Deal
There is a saying that most of us have heard at one point in our lives: “A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.”
Football player, Dieunerst Collin, also known as the “Popeyes Meme Kid” took to social media to rally his followers to convince the fast food eatery to offer him a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal. In less than a week, he got his wish.
Popeyes evidently saw all the retweets and posts directed at them and responded directly to Collin’s tweet.
“Let’s get this bread(ing)”
Let’s get this bread(ing)✍️ https://t.co/rnQaxBNAiz
— Popeyes (@Popeyes) January 11, 2023
The word started spreading on social media.
BREAKING: Popeyes has signed Dieunerst Collin — "The Popeyes meme kid" — to an NIL deal.
Collin is now a freshman offensive lineman at D-II Lake Erie College. pic.twitter.com/xC7UmuJLvY
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 11, 2023
Collin spoke to ESPN about his not-so-newfound fame and the quickness of landing the NIL agreement.
“I thought this is probably the opportunity I can get with Popeyes to at least reach out,” Collin told the media outlet. “I went on Instagram and decided to post asking everyone to repost and tag Popeyes, not knowing that I would get all the support I got. People just started to join, on my post and people that were on the ‘SportsCenter’ post, and I believe Monday afternoon was when Popeyes DM’ed [direct messaged] me and said we actually want to work with you.”
Collin also explained that although he was offered a deal, it hasn’t been signed yet, and he can’t disclose the details.
He is getting other offers due to the avalanche of support via social media. “I had Dude Wipes, they talked to me and they’re sending me some products. I have one company that I’ve been with called Lock1N. It’s an athletic brand from a football player I used to play with in high school.”
He doesn’t attend a big Division 1 school, but being from a small school he is probably the only football player at Lake Erie to have a NIL deal. He stated that his teammates support him and what’s about to come.
“My teammates were excited for me, because they believed I should be doing what I’m doing now with it,” Collin said. “The fact that every teammate of mine [said] congratulations, asked if I was OK and they’re rooting for me to make this bigger than what it is now.”
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