Saints DL Khalen Saunders reflects on virus interception against Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders has joked that he is the least musically talented in his entire family. His older brother, Kameron, is a touring dancer with Taylor Swift, another brother is a music minister for AME churches in St. Louis, and several members of his family are involved in music in some way.

Saunders showed on a national broadcast Monday night that he still has some steps to go.

Saunders, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2019 to 2022, tackled his old teammate Patrick Mahomes in the end zone in the third quarter.

When a pass fell out of the hands of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, Sanders caught the pass with one hand and stumbled 36 yards out of the end zone before falling.

“Oh man. I’m just trying to keep them out of the end zone,” Saunders said later. “(Dennis Allen), always preach, defend every blade of grass. That was just in my head. … They say when you’re on the ball, good things happen. So just try to get around the ball and try to defend whatever blade we have.

Saunders later had to receive oxygen on the sidelines. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the 324-pound Saunders reached a top speed of 15.79 mph on return, the third-fastest speed for a ball carrier of his size since 2016.

pic.twitter.com/CSsoyYYDDq

– New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 8, 2024

Weighing in at 324 pounds, Khalen Saunders reached a top speed of 15.79 mph on his 36-yard interception, the third-fastest speed of a 320-pound ball carrier since 2016.

The interception increased the @Saints Probability of winning from 5.1% to 15.0% (+9.9%).

Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/14JmFXZCxa

– Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 8, 2024

Saunders played running back in high school and went viral in 2019 after showing off his backflips skills, and his college bio listed his hobbies as piano and tumbling. He was also sometimes used on offense as a fullback for the Saints in goal-line packages last year.

“I’m trying to bring it home, take it home with me,” he said. “The running back days flashed in my head. I thought it was a 1v1 though like, ‘Okay, I have to get to 25.’ But yeah, it was a good result and I wish I had made it to the end.”

Saunders said he had “all the respect in the world” for Mahomes but was glad he took advantage of the quarterback’s rare mistake.

“It was special for me to be on the other end of the mistake that was made,” Saunders said.