Kadarius Toney ends up unlikely hero for Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl win

Kadarius Toney went from whom many critics regarded as a first-round draft bust for the New York Giants to a hero of the Kansas City Chiefs' 38-35 Super Bowl 57 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

In two plays, over a span of less than two minutes of game clock.

Traded by the Giants to the Chiefs in October 2022, Toney caught a 5-yard touchdown pass to give Kansas City a 28-27 lead with 12:08 to play, then returned a punt 65 yards moments later to set up another touchdown.

The punt return was the longest in Super Bowl history. It broke the previous record set by the Denver Broncos' Jordan Norwood, who had a 61-yard punt return in Super Bowl 50 in 2016.

"It was the right return (formation). They just gave us a good punt and I I just had to go out there and make a play," Toney said. "He (Eagles punter Arryn Siposs) kicked the ball where we wanted."

Toney caught the ball low, righted himself, started going left and cut right. Slightly slipping, he kept his balance and reversed field to the opposite sideline with a wall of teammates in front of him. Then he got to the edge and ran the ball down to the Eagles' 5-yard line, managing to avoid going out of bounds.

"I saw a shanked kick. Any kick going over there, I'm trying to make a play with it," Toney added.

"When you've got guys like that and players that you know, focus on their job and their tasks so hard on special teams, it means the world to the coaches," Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco said. "Kadarius and the punt return team, they focused on the job. Intense focus the whole way through it and you see how far that allowed Kadarius to get downfield."

Toney credited Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub with some motivation. He said Toub drilled into the heads of the special teams units that not much had ever been done on special teams on punt returns in Super Bowls.

The touchdown looked incredibly easy. Toney split wide right with the Chiefs at the Eagles' 5, trailing 27-21 early in the fourth quarter. Toney turned to go in motion, then stopped quickly and ran back to where he'd originally lined up.

Eagles defensive back Darius Slay, regarded as one of the top players at his position in the NFL, bit on the fake, which left Toney all alone. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, in the shotgun formation, needed only to toss the ball to a wide open Toney, who strolled into the end zone.

Mahomes was running to congratulate Toney as soon as he threw the ball.

"When I saw the ball in the air I kind of knew it was over with," Toney said. "The coaches, they spend hours and hours drawing up plays just for it to be that open. Every play is meant to be open. But it's all about going out there and executing. All 11 men did their job on the plays."

Toney, who wasn't a big part of the Chiefs' offense after his arrival via trade but did have two receiving touchdowns and a rushing touchdown with Kansas City in 2022, said he didn't care much about having been traded now that he's a Super Bowl champion. He played only one play in the first half before coming up big in the second.

"There's really no way to describe it. I mean, I'm living it," he said.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid mentioned Toney along with other new faces to the team this season that made an impact Sunday.

"Here comes 'K.T.' coming into this thing late from the Giants, and he has a couple of the biggest plays of the game," Reid said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kansas City Chiefs' Kadarius Toney shines in fourth quarter of Super Bowl 57