Tony Khan's Feud With An NFL Star Led To A Big-Time Trade

Tony Khan is a lifelong pro wrestling fan, and he often genuinely comes across that way. Sometimes it leads to him taking shots at WWE, other times boasting about the quality of his show. But Khan isn't just the CEO of All Elite Wrestling — he holds an executive role with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, as well. Khan also maintains a fairly active Twitter presence, and rightly or wrongly, that can lead to internal grievances playing out in public.

Take, for example, former Jaguars' defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. A third-round pick, Ngakoue and Khan got into it back in April 2020 (via jacksonville.com) shortly after the Jaguars applied the franchise tag on Ngakoue, tying him to the franchise. The lineman, however, was done with Jacksonville and wanted out — eventually leading to a call-out of Khan. He started by tweeting "#FREEYANN" before telling Khan to "stop hiding," which ultimately led to Khan's response.

"I'm not in hiding sir, I'm in isolation getting ready for the draft," Khan tweeted. "I've been pretty active on social media in isolation, but you wouldn't know that since you unfollowed me (again)."

Ngakoue wasted no time shooting back, calling Khan spoiled.

"Since your feeling might today [sic]  let's both let the world in on the truth," he wrote. "We been had a discussion that the Chargers game was my last game. Yet you try to back door the situation without answering any of my camps calls. Smh you spoiled [brat] ... holding up people for no reason."

Before the issue was ultimately resolved, Khan made it clear to Ngakoue that they weren't going to trade him solely for the sake of it.

"It's a new regime here sir," he said. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the contributions you made here. That said, tweeting insults at me won't get you traded any faster. Only good trade compensation will do that. Please redirect your efforts into a more productive outlet."

Fortunately, the lineman did ultimately get his wish when the Minnesota Vikings acquired him in August 2020 for multiple draft picks (via nfl.com). Just like that, the feud was part of the past.

It's odd to see a high-ranking executive have a spat with an employee for all the world to see — even if it wasn't necessarily driven by him. And yet, given what we've seen since, it becomes slightly less odd when you realize that man is Khan himself. Fast forward to the present and he continues to tweet like a passionate fan, whether it's about the NFL, EPL, or of course, AEW.