Shaka Felton Toney (born January 7, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

and was selected by the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the seventh round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

. Toney was suspended by the NFL for the 2023 season for

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

on NFL games the previous year and was released by Washington upon being reinstated.

Early life

Toney was born on January 8, 1998, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and attended Imhotep Institute Charter High School. As a senior he was named the Pennsylvania Football News Class AAA Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-State after recording 97 tackles and 21 sacks.

College career

At Penn State, Toney

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman Toney recorded 20 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks with two forced fumbles and was named to the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

's All-Freshman team. He finished his redshirt sophomore season with 7.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. Toney was named second-team All-Big Ten Conference after making 41 tackles with eight tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.

Professional career

Washington Football Team/Commanders

Toney was selected by the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

in the seventh round (246th overall) of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 13, 2021. In Week 12, Toney recorded his first career sack in a 17–15 victory over the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. On April 21, 2023, Toney was suspended indefinitely by the league for betting on NFL games during the 2022 season. He was reinstated on April 18, 2024, and was released by the team four days later.

Dallas Cowboys

On August 1, 2024, Toney signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He was waived with an injury designation on August 14.

St. Louis Battlehawks

Toney signed with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL) on June 3, 2025.

References

External links

*
Penn State Nittany Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toney, Shaka 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Philadelphia American football defensive ends Penn State Nittany Lions football players Washington Commanders players Washington Football Team players Dallas Cowboys players St. Louis Battlehawks players