Editorial

Joe Exotic Threatens To Sue Florida State’s Jordan Travis Over ‘Tiger King’ Moniker

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FSU v Boston College

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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You know you’re desperate for relevance when …

The Florida State Seminoles are doing the damn thing this season, currently undefeated at 4-0 and ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25 following a huge 31-24 overtime victory over Clemson in Death Valley. And on top of that, the win — their first against the Tigers since 2014 — snapped a seven-game losing streak the Noles were on against the Tigers.

Also in the game, FSU quarterback Jordan Travis solidified even further his status as a legend at the school, surpassing Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke for the most touchdown passes in program history with 82. And that record-setting TD also happened to be the game-winner over Clemson, with Keon Coleman being on the receiving end.

With Florida State slaying a second ‘Tigers’ team this season, previously taking out LSU in a 45-24 Labor Day Weekend beating to kick off the campaign, a load of Seminoles fans have been branding Travis as the “Tiger King” — a reference to the mega-popular 2020 Netflix documentary starring zookeeper and animal trainer Joe Exotic.

Following the victory, Travis and his marketing team took absolute advantage of his new nickname, with a shirt starring QB13 as, well, the “Tiger King,” showing up on his official website.

The shirt features Travis sitting on a throne with a crown placed on his head and two Tigers in front of him — one with Clemson colors and the other with LSU’s. Labeled the ‘Jordan Travis College King 2.0,’ the shirt is priced at $31.24, the final score of the Clemson game.

Claiming to own the trademark to “Tiger King” that he used to advertise his exotic animal trainer profession, Exotic voiced his displeasure on social media, criticizing Travis for using the moniker and threatening legal action by giving “any attorney 80% of a settlement to sue Jordan Travis and all companies selling stuff using Tiger King.”

Just check out this nonsense:

… what a clown.

Now I personally wasn’t into the whole “Tiger King” phenomenon when Joe Exotic was first introduced into the culture, but I am aware of the 22 years that he landed in prison for two counts of attempted murder-for-hire and others related to violating the Lacey and Endangered Species acts. I’m also very well aware that ol’ Exotic’s relevance has completely shot down in the process. In other words, we all know this is an attempt to become relevant again. (RELATED: Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes Fall Out Of Top 25 After Blowout Loss To Oregon; New Top 4 Emerges)

And a failed attempt at that, because…

Straight like that.