Saints DL Khalen Saunders reflects on viral interception against Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders has joked that he’s the least musically talented out of his entire family. His older brother Kameron is a dancer on tour with Taylor Swift, another brother is the Minister of Music for AME Churches in St. Louis and several members of his family are involved in music in some way.

Saunders showed a national broadcast Monday night that he’s still got some moves.

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

When a pass went off the hands of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, Sanders snagged the pass one-handed and rumbled out of the end zone for 36 yards before being tripped up.

“Oh man. Just trying to keep them out of the end zone,” Saunders said later. “[Dennis Allen], always preach, defend every blade of grass. So that was just in my mind. … They say when you’re around the ball, good things happen. So just trying to get around the ball and trying to defend every blade we have.”

Saunders had to get oxygen on the sideline later. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the 324-pound Saunders reached a top speed of 15.79 miles per hour on the return, the third-fastest speed for a ball carrier that size since 2016.

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

At 324 pounds, Khalen Saunders reached a top speed of 15.79 mph on his 36-yard interception, the 3rd-fastest speed by a ball carrier who weighs over 320 pounds since 2016.

The interception increased the @Saints win probability from 5.1% to 15.0% (+9.9%).

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

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

“Trying to get it home, take it home,” he said. “The running back days flashed in my head. I was like, that’s a 1-on-1 though. That’s a little ways to go. But I was just trying to give us some good field position. Once I came out, I was like, ‘Alright I’ve got to get to the 25.’ But yeah it was a good return and I wish I could’ve took it all the way.”

Saunders said he has “all the respect in the world” for Mahomes but was happy he would take advantage of the quarterback’s rare mistake.

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