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

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

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

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

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 campu ...

and was drafted by Washington 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 from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

. On April 21, 2023, Toney was suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games.

Early life and high school

Toney was born on January 8, 1998, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and attended

Imhotep Institute Charter High School Imhotep Institute Charter High School is a public charter high school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1998 to offer an African-centered education that emphasizes STEM subjects. During the 2015–16 school year, the sch ...

. 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 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'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

Toney was drafted by the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. On April 21, 2023, Toney was suspended indefinitely by the league for betting on NFL games during the 2022 season.

References

External links

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Washington Commanders bioPenn 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