WATCH: Kadarius Toney details his road to winning a Super Bowl
Three and a half months ago, Kadarius Toney was on the trading block. Now the former Florida receiver is a Super Bowl champion.
Toney shined on the big stage, helping lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a come-from-behind 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII with some fourth-quarter heroics on Sunday night.
He caught a 5-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up with 28-27 with 12:04 remaining. Toney, aka the “Human Joystick”, then broke free for a Super Bowl-record long 65-yard punt return to set up another score.
Toney surpassed a 61-yard punt return by the Denver Broncos’ Jordan Norwood in 2016 for the longest in Super Bowl history.
“I’m feeling surreal, man. I’m just taking it all in right now,” Toney said live on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt after the game.
Toney, a first-round draft pick by the New York Giants in 2021, was traded to Kansas City on Oct. 27 for third- and sixth-round draft picks as he recovered from a hamstring injury. At the time, he had two catches for zero yards and a pair of carries for 23 yards.
In 10 total games since his return, Toney recorded 21 receptions for 219 yards and three touchdowns along with six rushes for 73 yards and one touchdown. He also returned 16 punts for 173 yards (10.8 average), including Sunday’s record-setting 65-yarder.
“It’s all been a journey, man. I can’t lie, it’s just been a journey, man,” Toney told Van Pelt. “Just a lot of hard work, a lot of consistency. You know, I had a lot of setbacks and injuries, this and that, and I just never blinked. Never batted an eye. Just always knew the end goal was this right here, this confetti falling over our head.”
Kadarius Toney interview
Below is Kadarius Toney live on ESPN for a post-game interview on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.
The Chiefs trailed 24-14 at the break but outscored the Eagles 24-11 in the second half, including a 17-8 fourth quarter. Van Pelt asked Toney what changed with his team after halftime.
“It was just the energy, you know,” Toney said. “[Travis] Kelce came in, [Patrick] Mahomes, everybody came in, ‘Man’s it dead. We need some energy. We need some energy.’ And you know, we just had to come bring it in the second half.”
Van Pelt wrapped up the interview by asking Toney what the rest of the night was going to look like for him and his teammates.
“Man,” he said, “me and the guys gonna go turn up somewhere.”
