Kadarius Toney has had one of the greatest falls from grace in professional sports in recent memory. He announced his retirement from the NFL earlier this week. With that, his career came to an end after just four seasons, during which he was traded twice.
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Coming out of Florida in 2021, Toney was the No. 20 overall pick by the New York Giants. He was a yards-after-the-catch demon, as elusive as any wideout prospect that had come out in the previous decade. He showed promise as a rookie but was then traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in his second year. Not a good sign. But he was a key factor in their win during Super Bowl 57, and he seemed like the likely WR1 for K.C. in 2023.
That notion could not have been more wrong. He played only 230 offensive snaps for the Chiefs in 2023, about 26 percent, and was shipped to the Cleveland Browns for the 2024 campaign. In three games for them, Toney had four punt returns for 44 yards and no receptions.
Now, he’s moving onto the next chapter of his life, and it’s called ‘Yung Joka.’ That’s what he said he’d like to be called during the IG live, where he announced his retirement from football and the start of his rap career.
: Kadarius Toney went on IG live and said that he is retiring from the NFL and wants to be considered a rapper instead of a football player.
Yung Joka is now the name he prefers to be called. pic.twitter.com/Dxq4RSl82S
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 17, 2025
Toney has been doing and saying strange things for a couple of years now, but his latest act was still a surprising turn. He’s only 26, so his physical gifts remain. Unfortunately, he’s now following somewhat in Le’Veon Bell’s footsteps. That would have been a positive if we were talking about Pittsburgh Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell, but we’re talking about the New York Jets and post-NFL Le’Veon Bell. Not good.
One redditor sarcastically commented, “I’m sure [the rap career] will work out really well” for Toney. Another one responded, “Hey, look how well it turned out for Le’Veon Bell“. The joke is that it did not turn out well for Bell, who has also been doing celebrity boxing matches to pay the bills.
Not everyone can go from failed athlete to successful rapper like LiAngelo Ball. Several more Redditors pointed out that Darren Waller and Cole Beasley had failed rap careers as well.
During his final relevant season with the Chiefs in 2023, the main issue with Kadarius Toney was his severe case of the dropsies. It was almost like he had the yips. His 12.9 drop rate was the ninth-highest in the league that year for WRs with 35+ targets. This led to another Redditor slyly quipping, “He’ll drop the ball on that too,” in reference to his rap career.
In the end, Kadarius Toney goes down as another “what could have been” story of the 2020s in the NFL. He retires with 82 receptions for 760 yards and three TDs through the air and 115 yards on the ground.
Despite those disappointing numbers, Toney will always have Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. In that game, he caught the fourth-quarter TD to give the Chiefs a lead they would not look back from. He also returned a punt for a record 65 yards to set up another TD on the ensuing drive. Even as Yung Joka, he’ll always have that night in Phoenix.
