The End of an Era: Two Super Bowl Rings Later, The Kadarius Toney Experiment in Kansas City Has Come to a Close
You hate to see it. At least I do. As a casual football fan with no skin in the game, few players bring me more joy to watch on Sunday than the trainwreck that is Kadarius Toney.
If somebody has a better example of this, I'd love to hear it. But I don't think anybody has ever fallen ass backwards into a Super Bowl more so than Kadarius Toney did in 2023. I'm excluding players like Melvin Gordon, who signed with the Chiefs, did nothing but ride the bench, and contributed zero outside of practice. But as far as people who can actually lay a legitimate claim to helping their team earn a Super Bowl ring, nobody was undeservedly gifted a better situation than Kadarius Toney.
The man was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) by the New York Giants. By all accounts he was a bust. Basically spent his entire Giants career injured on the bench. He started 5 games, appeared in 12, and caught 0 TD's. I was actually shocked to learn he caught 41 passes with them. I would have guessed it was closer to 10. If felt like he wasn't even on the team.
Then he pulled his hamstring at the start of his second Giants' season, and they send his underachieving ass to Kansas City. The definition of failing upwards. And he's actually kind of serviceable there. Not good. He dropped a shit load of passes. But in 7 games he scored 3 TD's. Out of nowhere, he was suddenly a very relevant player in the NFL (despite still being a massive disappointment for his expectations/talent level).
But most importantly, in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, with the Chiefs trailing, Kadarius Toney decided to show up for the first time in his career.
We've watched some of the greatest NFL players of all-time grind out 10-15 year careers, make multiple Pro Bowls, make multiple playoff appearances, but just never quite get over the hump and win a Super Bowl. Then you got this Kadarius Toney ass hole. He gets drafted in the first round. Is a huge disappointment to the city of New York. Wins the wide receiver lottery and gets shipped off to play with Patrick Mahomes. Doesn't even really play that good. Just kind of exists on the Chiefs as Patrick Mahomes carries the team on his back. Then makes 2 huge plays in the 4th quarter and cements himself as an integral part of the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory over the Eagles. And nobody can ever say he didn't earn it. At least not in that game. If I were Tony Gonzalez I'd want to throw up.
Kadarius Toney was a disaster all next season. Dropping passes left and right. Didn't even get to dress for the entirety of next season's playoffs. And his team still won the Super Bowl. The Chiefs quite literally on a Super Bowl despite of him.
I wouldn't be completely shocked if Toney isn't on a roster at the start of this season. He most likely will be. He's still fast as shit. It's hard to watch that guy play and not fantasize about a world where he learns to catch the football and suddenly becomes one of the most electric playmakers in the NFL. But whatever team does end up taking a chance on him will do so begrudgingly. Because nobody can turn a perfect pass right in the numbers into an interception for the defense quite like Kadarius.
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Or have one of the craziest, most awesome plays in NFL history negated because he doesn't understand how the line of scrimmage works.
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Shoutout Kadarius Toney. As a non-fan of the Giants or Chiefs, he's been nothing but a delight to watch in the NFL. And no matter how much he continues to suck and cost his team games, you'll never be able to say he didn't help win a Super Bowl. You can't take that away from him. The most "fell ass backwards into a Super Bowl" player in NFL history. Again, if you have a better example, I'd love to hear it.