The Popeyes meme kid is now a NJ high school football champion
You may remember this meme spreading like wildfire back in 2013. To this day, the photo of Dieunerst Collin lives rent free in the heads of thousands of people.
The subject of perhaps one of the greatest reaction memes in Internet history is a Jersey guy, and attends East Orange High School. But that's not where Dieunerst's story ends.
He just won a state championship playing on the offensive line for the East Orange High School football team. The big game was Dec. 5 between East Orange and Clifton. East Orange took home the title in a triple overtime finish by a score of 30-24.
After winning, he took the opportunity to recreate the famous meme, and in the process, show the world just how far he has come.
While a lot of time has passed since going viral, Dieunerst Collin had a lot to mentally process before being able to poke fun at himself and his role in Internet lore.
He tells Sports Illustrated,
"When it first happened, I kind of felt sad about it. It was somebody randomly recording me, and I’ve never been viral before. When it first came out, I would take it as bullying, every time I used to hear ‘Oh, Terio, Terio,’ and that’s not my name … a couple weeks later, I figured out it was me based on the video. I got kind of emotional, cried a little bit. Over the years, I got over it.”
Collin's words serve as a reminder that for as much humor and relatability we may get out of viral memes, the people in the photos or videos that circulate could have a negative experience in the process of gaining brief fame.
The next step now for Dieunerst: Try to get recruited to play college football. You can follow along his journey by following him on Twitter here.
The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 producer, writer, and host Joe Votruba. Any opinions expressed are his own.
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