Kadarius Toney knows the game better than most, but he still got shut out. After his one-year-old son was removed from a football game, the Kansas City Chiefs’ two-time Super Bowl champion posted an angry Instagram message. “Kicked Us Out of the Game” became the headline for a story that has Chiefs fans asking if the rules make sense. Toney insisted he had a valid sideline pass, yet a security guard barred him from the bench area because of his child’s age.
The incident happened at a college game, though the exact location remains unclear. If Toney visited his old school, Florida, he ran into a wall of text that applies to everyone. That rule leaves no wiggle room for a toddler. A one-year-old falls below every single line drawn by the NCAA and individual schools like LSU or Georgia Southern.
Strict Rules Leave No Room for Kids
Security guards are just following orders when they enforce these age limits. The regulations are written in plain black and white to keep non-working personnel away from the field. “Any working personnel outside the team bench area should be at least 16 years old,” according to Yahoo Sports. After McCain obtained a credential for the child, the guard still would not let Toney pass, even though Toney argued. A player has encountered this specific roadblock previously.
Back in 2017, then-Chargers linebacker Chris McCain faced the same issue at Gillette Stadium. On Instagram, he also shared that “He first told me I couldn’t take him without proper credentials.” McCain had a tradition of bringing his kid onto the field every year, but the guard stopped him cold. Toney’s situation is similar to that old story. The system is built to keep kids off the sideline, regardless of who their dad plays for.
A Champion’s Frustration With the System
Toney is used to winning, so getting tossed for a rule he didn’t know about feels unfair. He wrote that the NCAA was “Korny af……..kicked us out the game talm bout my son Kant be on the sideline……when I [clearly] gotta sideline pass.” Selected 20th overall in the 2021 draft by the New York Giants, he was later acquired by the Chiefs via trade in October 2022. Even a Super Bowl MVP cannot bypass the age limit for sideline access.
As an all-purpose player, Toney earned AP second-team All-America honors while playing in Florida. He knows the college game inside and out, yet the sideline policy caught him off guard. It is a reminder that the NCAA treats every person the same way when it comes to safety and access.
The Chiefs play the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 4:25 p.m. ET at Empower Field at Mile High. Toney will need to focus on the field, not the sideline rules, for that matchup. The team is trying to bounce back after a 20-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Oct. 25. While Toney’s post game ruffled feathers, the real story for Chiefs fans is how the offense finds its rhythm in the thin air of Denver.
