Growing up, Kadarius Toney’s parents knew he was “different.” It was because he was a great football player growing up and had a keen interest in learning and developing his skills. While his entry into the NFL was doubted, it was his parents who believed that he was made of  NFL material. The Kansas City Chiefs receiver comes from a lineage of a military family. His father, Dana Toney is a military veteran who works for the United Postal Service.

Meanwhile, his mother, Angela Toney is employed by Huntington Ingalls, the largest military shipbuilding company in the USA. Not much else is revealed about them, but it’s through Toney’s past that we know more about his parents. His father, Dana Toney was proud when he saw his son putting on a Gators jersey back in 2020. He lost his first college game, but that didn’t bother his father at all.

“When you ran through that tunnel and I saw my name Toney across your back, that was all I needed. That was it,” said Dana Toney of his son’s first game against Michigan in the summer of 2017.

However, everything changed in 2018. Toney was found in possession of an AR. The police found it when they stopped him for a seatbelt violation. That was due to an ongoing conflict with a local gambler Davante “Tay Bang” Zachery. Earlier that year, 3 Gators players Tyrie Cleveland, Chauncey Gardner Johnson, and C’yontai Lewis started a beef with Zachery and that ended up involving Toney.

An 18-year-old Toney and his teammate Kyrie Campbell tried to scare them with BB Guns at first, but Toney went a step ahead and bought a real gun. The police didn’t charge him with anything. However, they did question him, and his father was open to talking about the incident because he was there at the time.

“I was furious,” Toney’s father said of the conflict. “So as a parent, I got into my car that very next day and I headed to Gainesville. And I told him listen: your mother and I sent you to Gainesville to get an education and earn your degree through sports. We didn’t send you there for anything else.” But focusing on football wasn’t the only takeaway from the whole situation, accountability was a crucial lesson as well.

How Toney’s father taught him to “man up”

A disappointed Toney had his “head down” when he was “briefly detained” by the Florida Police. “Again, I got into my vehicle and drove the five, six hours to Gainesville,” said his father who reached the police station with Toney’s uncle Jason, a retired Air Force vet. “But I said, ‘Head up,’” is what Dana Toney told his disappointed and embarrassed son.

Toney had a real possibility of going into the NFL and eventually, he made it. However, his father was sure that the media would bring it up in the future (which they did). His father told him what to do to prepare for that eventuality.

“I need you to be man enough to explain it,” Dana Toney told his son. “Own up to your actions and explain your actions. I really want you to understand this because it’s gonna depict you as something that you aren’t. You’re not that.” Toney was in fact, “not that.” Though his actions garnered unwarranted attention, the New York Giants knew what was true and what wasn’t.

He was the 20 overall pick in the 2021 draft. Joe Judge, the Giants head coach at the time said, “I think sometimes you have to understand the person and you have to understand the character on a deeper level than what just may be Tweeted out.” The coach’s opinions somehow align with Dana Toney, who thinks his son can win championships and that “He’s a good kid. And he will lay it all on the line.”

At that time in his career, Toney did not forget to mention his parents. He said, “I’ll say my family and just my passion for the game. I always pictured myself playing football, even when I was a little.” The WR eventually got a ring when the Kansas City Chiefs went against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl LVII, though his participation was limited to a single reception and a touchdown. But, he cemented his name in that Super Bowl game with the longest punt return in NFL history as he ran for 65 yards, all thanks to his dad’s tough yet loving side.