After joining New York as the 20th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, wide receiver Kadarius Toney played in 12 of the Giants’ next 24 games. The former Blount High School star had 41 receptions for 420 yards, five runs for 29 yards and one punt return for zero yards and had not scored an NFL touchdown when New York gave up on Toney’s injury-riddled career and traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 27.

On Sunday, Toney scored his fourth touchdown in his 10 games with Kansas City. The 5-yard reception gave the Chiefs a one-point lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII, and Toney followed the score with a 65-yard punt return that is the longest in Super Bowl history.

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“I don’t know what the Giants was doing with KT, but he’s a dog,” Kansas City wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said after the Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL’s 2022 championship game. “And (general manager Brett) Veach and (coach) Andy Reid, bro, they know how to pick and choose who to go get and fit for this puzzle of this team.

“The hard part with (Toney) is trying to block for him. He’s like a rubber band. He just jukes so many times that it’s hard to block for him. But as you can see, his punt return set us up big to put points on the board.”

In seven regular-season and three playoff games with Kansas City, Toney has 21 receptions for 221 yards and three touchdowns, six runs for 73 yards and one touchdown and 16 punt returns for 173 yards.

“The environment is just life-changing,” Toney said after Super Bowl LVII. “You can just only imagine the coaches and the entire organization, just the energy you feel in the building day in and day out. It’s different. It makes you want to go out there and be the best player you can be. I’m surrounded by the MVP, the top tight end in the league. I’m just trying to fit in and be the best player that I can be.”

Toney’s longest punt return in an NFL regular-season game is 9 yards. He had an 11-yard punt return in the Chiefs’ 27-20 second-round victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan. 21 and a 12-yard punt return in a 23-20 playoff victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 29 in Kansas City’s two games before the Super Bowl.

After a 12-yard punt return in the first quarter on Sunday, Toney broke Jordan Norwood’s record for the longest Super Bowl punt return. Norwood had a 61-yard punt return in the Denver Broncos’ 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016.

Toney fielded a 38-yard punt from Philadelphia’s Arryn Siposs at the Kansas City 30-yard line and ran across the field and down the right sideline to the Eagles 5.

“He just gave us an ugly punt, and I just had to go out there and make a play,” Toney said. “… I was just making a play. It was the right return. I went the way I was supposed to return. He kicked the ball over where we wanted it.”

Toney’s return set up quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ 4-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Skyy Moore as the Chiefs took a 35-27 lead with 9:22 to play.

“Here comes KT coming into this thing late from the Giants,” Reid said, “and he has a couple of the biggest plays of the game.”

Toney got on the field for six offensive snaps and two special-teams plays in Super Bowl LVII. Mahomes threw to Toney once, and he was all by himself on a third-down snap at the Philadelphia 5-yard line for a walk-in touchdown as Kansas City took a 28-27 lead with 12:04 to play.

“(The coaches) spend hours and hours drawing up plays just for it to be that open,” Toney said. “Every play is meant to be open, but it’s all about going out there and executing. We just went out there and executed. All 11 men did their job on those plays.”

The Class 6A Back of the Year at Blount in 2016, Toney became the third player from an Alabama high school to score in the Super Bowl. Tuscaloosa’s John Stallworth caught three touchdown passes during his four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Stanhope Elmore’s Antowain Smith ran 2 yards for a touchdown in the New England Patriots’ 32-29 victory over the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004.

Stallworth is the only player from an Alabama high school or college to have a longer play in the Super Bowl than Toney’s 65-yard punt return.

The former Alabama A&M star had a 75-yard touchdown reception in the Steelers’ 35-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII on Jan. 21, 1979, and a 73-yard touchdown reception in Pittsburgh’s 31-19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV on Jan. 20, 1980.

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“It was the biggest game of my life,” Toney said. “It was for real. It was all about finishing the job, too. I made the plays, but at the end of the day, defense had to go out there and make the stand. Offense, we had to go out there and execute, and get the field goal and get in position. We just had to finish the game. …

“Right now, I’m just grateful. Just thankful for the organization for really accepting me and letting me be the player I can be.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.