When you fail in New York, it can break your self-esteem. It’s a difficult thing to get over and people sometimes begin to treat the city like a lost ex.
An obsession starts to grow. How did it all go wrong? How could you have collapsed in the biggest media market in the world? The humiliation can weigh on your mind as you feel millions of people pointing and laughing, even when they’re not really there.
It’s possible to rebound and find success elsewhere, but that initial failure never escapes you. It’s hard to accept being consumed by The Big Apple and its legion of people who never sleep.
New York sports fans have seen that on repeat throughout the years and they’re watching it happen once again, this time to Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
Despite picking up a Super Bowl ring, the New York Giants draft bust remains obsessed with his former team, their fans, and the city that ate him alive.
When engaged in a marketing event featuring a superimposed Super Bowl ring, Toney made it a point to flip off the same New Yorkers who were thrilled with him for helping to take down the Philadelphia Eagles. He later posted a strange Cheshire Cat-like video slamming the fans, general manager Joe Schoen and the team, all the while careful not to show his face — perhaps out of an internalized shame.
Some tried to soothe his soul but Toney rejected their message.
Damn it Kadarius#NYGiants are movin on pic.twitter.com/GkW21MmmAZ
— el Jefé (@JefePil) July 7, 2023
Toney couldn’t stop there. His inability to control the obsession leaked out once again, this time in the form of Twitter DMs to fans. In one, sent to content creator Chuck Knoxx, the struggling off-field rapper named “Yung Joka” spiraled into another uncontrolled expletive-laden rant.
“I knew that weak (expletive) playbook,” Toney began. “And I could give a (expletive) about (Brian) Daboll, Joe (Schoen) or you. Y’all broke (expletive) speaking on me and not visa versa. (Expletive) the Giants.”
Toney, who now plays in a system where much of the Giants’ “weak” playbook was derived, seems confused. He has repeatedly taken aim at the Giants, their staff and their fans — and as he says, not via versa.
But the obsession did not — and clearly could not — end there.
Awake and turning at 2:00 a.m., likely still reeling over his embarrassing stint in New York, Toney hit Twitter again. Like a heartbroken ex who’s still aching over the “it’s not you, it’s me” speech, he this time attempted to hit a sore spot by invoking Saquon Barkley’s contract situation.
Y’all too worried bout me 😂😂💀…Tell Saquon sign the deal
— Kadarius Toney (@0fficialC2N) July 11, 2023
Toney has repeatedly said he doesn’t “give a (expletive)” about the Giants or their fans, but that is very clearly a facade. He cares deeply about his former fling and the fact that he bought nothing to the table, ultimately being cast aside as an afterthought. That would sting any man’s ego but most choose to better themselves and move on. Others become obsessed and continue to look back.
There are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
For poor Kadarius Toney, he is still stuck in Stage 2.
