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Inside Kadarius Toney’s year in NFL exile with once-promising career possibly over at 26
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- Inside Kadarius Toney’s year in NFL exile with once-promising career possibly over at 26
Kadarius Toney
After poor play and legal troubles, Kadarius Toney has been exiled from the NFL for over a year now.
The frustrating but talented 2021 first-round draft pick has been off the football field since being waived by the Browns last December after two disastrous punt returns during a game against the Steelers, adding a long list of on-field blunders.
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Toney's unremarkable stint in Cleveland came after the Chiefs , who acquired him from the Giants after he spent only a season-and-a-half in New York, dumped him before their season opener in 2024 .
That wasn't rock bottom for Toney.
Kadarius Toney #19 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on from the sideline prior to an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 12, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. Getty Images
In February, Toney was arrested for allegedly putting his hand around a woman's throat during a January dispute.
Court documents viewed by The Post at the time alleged that Toney squeezed the woman's neck "with enough force to cause her to be unable to breathe, leave red marks on her neck and cause Petechial Hemorrhaging in her eyes" during a Jan. 14 incident in Douglasville, Georgia.
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A couple of months later, Toney pushed back on retirement rumors, taking to social media to refute those online claims that he had said during an Instagram Live that he would be quitting football and wanted to be viewed as a rapper.
Kadarius Toney talks with Giants reporters in 2022. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
"Goofies on the net hollerin I'm retiring," Toney wrote on his Instagram story in mid-April. "Just want klout. Ain't speakin on the [poop emoji] nomo."
However, his actions since then, and the apparent disinterest from NFL teams – Toney never so much as worked out with a team this fall, missing the entire season – suggest it is at least on an extended hold.
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Although Toney has been making music since at least 2019, releasing EPs and singles under the name Yung Joka, his rap career appears to have taken on a more serious tone of late with his first full album.
In October, Toney released "Warrior4Lyfe," a ten-track album with heavy autobiographical tones, focusing on his personal past.
Kadarius Toney #19 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs the ball after a catch during an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on December 10, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. Getty Images
A peek at his Instagram makes it hard to tell he was ever a football player at all, frequently advertising his music, posting clips of songs and the occasional cryptic post.
Aside from two photos of him in street clothes on a football field, including one appearance at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at his alma mater, Florida, that part of Toney's life appears to be in the past.
Toney announcing his newest album on Instagram on Oct. 31. Kadarius Toney/Instagram
No matter where his rap career takes him, if this is it for his playing career, Toney's fall on the football field is one of the most shocking in recent memory.
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After a chaotic Giants run, Toney appeared to right his career in Kansas City . The Alabama native caught a five-yard touchdown pass and had an electric 65-yard punt return to set up another Chiefs touchdown in their thrilling Super Bowl 2023 win over the Eagles.
But the following season with the Chiefs back in the Super Bowl — this time beating the 49ers — Toney was inactive after going on an Instagram Live rant claiming he was not injured while sidelined during the AFC Championship Game.
Officials attempt to separate New York Giants' Kadarius Toney (89) and Dallas Cowboys' Damontae Kazee, right, after Toney threw a punch at Kazee in the second half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021. AP
He would be cut by the Chiefs before the 2025 season, leading to his ill-fated stint with the Browns.
With just 35 regular-season games played, Toney has the sixth-fewest appearances for a wide receiver picked in the top-20 from 2000 to 2021, joining a fateful group including Henry Ruggs III , Charles Rogers and Justin Blackmon, among others.
