“Might be faster than Najee” – Brother of Taylor Swift’s dancer Khalen Saunders, who weighs 324 pounds, running for his life after intercepting Patrick Mahomes has fans in shock
Fans have gone crazy seeing Khalen Saunders running for his life while holding the ball in his hand after intercepting Patrick Mahomes.
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Khalen Saunders running for his life after intercepting Patrick Mahomes (Via KTEV/X)
The Kansas City Chiefs may have secured the victory, but it was the New Orleans Saints defensive back who stole the spotlight in the game. Bringing back his high school days, Khalen Saunders displayed stunning speed as a running back during his interception return.
After delivering a powerful tackle on tight end Travis Kelce, Saunders eyed the touchdown pass thrown by Patrick Mahomes to JuJu Smith-Schuster. The 6-foot, 324-pound Saunders caught the ball as it deflected off the wide receiver’s hands, resulting in his first-ever career interception. But that wasn’t the end of Saunders’ impressive play.
The moment he got his hands on the ball, he ran and returned with 37 rushing yards on his own sideline– the longest interception return recorded in the last 17 years by a player over 300-pound weight. He also obtained the place of third fastest ball carrier of the 300-plus weight mark, with a speed of 15.79 mph, according to Next Gen Stats.
Coming from playing here for four years, and all the respect in the world for Patrick, you got to take advantage of the mistakes they make. And so just to be on the other end of the mistake that was made, man, that was special.
Khalen Saunders said about his play
LOOK AT BINK RUN
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 8, 2024
? @espn pic.twitter.com/JlNjAtFPjw
He also acknowledged that things would have been even better if the Saints had succeeded with a victory, nonetheless, they did learn about the potential of their team.
Fans react to Khalen Saunders’ impressive speed
It was indeed Khalen’s night and his brother, Kameron Saunders was also at the stadium cheering for him. There were some debates on who Kameron cheered for since his boss Taylor Swift was cheering for Kansas City because of her boyfriend. But Khalen was confident that his brother would cheer for him. And as he intercepted the three-time Super Bowl champion, just like his brother, all the fans were cheering for him.
The clips from the third quarter play have gone viral on the internet as Khalen can be seen running for his life while holding the ball in his hand. One fan wrote, “No joke this dude might be faster than Najee,” while another wrote, “I ain’t know he had wheels like that.”
Some fans highlighted how Saunders started his football journey as a running back and the Saints should have given him a few carriers to try out as a running back. Some labeled this interception return by Khalen as the best play by the Saints. Fans have been utterly impressed by the defensive back’s ability and looking forward to his next game. Here are some of the fan reactions.
Nevertheless, Saunders will look forward to carrying this much-needed boost, going into the next game. The Saints take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next.
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Pratyusha Srivastava
(2264 Articles Published)