Kid from side-eye Popeye’s meme just won a NJ football state championship

The kid who has been featured as a meme for his side-eye look at Popeye’s grew up and won a New Jersey football state championship this week.

Who among us hasn’t said something slightly out of pocket and had a friend, follower on social media, or someone who saw it reply with the ever-popular side-eye meme featuring a young boy holding a cup in Popeye’s?

We’ve all been there, naturally. But the young man in that video, who was incorrectly identified as internet star Lil Terrio from the Vine the meme originated from, has gone on to do much bigger things, even though he’s still in high school.

Several years since he became a viral internet star, Dieunerst Collin is now a member of the East Orange Campus High School football team. And on Sunday night, Collin — who plays center at the New Jersey high school — and the Jaguars captured the Group 5 New Jersey State Championship.

This all came to light thanks to an absolutely incredible tweet.

Side-eye kid at Popeye’s grows up, wins state championship in football in New Jersey

While it’s often hard to fully confirm the identity of a misidentified young kid from a meme that came about several years ago, all indications on social media are that this is an absolutely incredible true story for meme to state champion.

If the story wasn’t cool enough, this was the (controversial) play in triple overtime that clinched the East Orange win over Clifton in the state title game.

Even better, Popeye’s brought it all full circle to shout out Collin’s and the Jaguars’ victory.

Talk about the most improbable — in every sense of the word — sports story you thought you’d see in 2021.