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New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders made himself an overnight star on ‘Monday Night Football’ when he intercepted Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes.
After making the end zone pick, the 6-foot-1, 324-pound defensive tackle then returned that ball all the way out to the 35-yard line.
As it turns out Saunders had quite the career as a running back in high school and even compared his highlights to those of Colorado star Travis Hunter.
Saints DT Khalen Saunders Was A Monster Running Back In High School
“I was lowkey like a Travis Hunter before he came,” Saunders said on a recent episode of The G.O.A.T Farm podcast.
Saunders then showed host AJ Greene a highlight video of him playing running back and defensive tackle at Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, Missouri.
And we’ve got to say, he makes a good point! Saunders had fantastic moves for a big man and nobody on the field wanted to tackle him.
During the interception return, commentator Troy Aikman even pointed out that Saunders looked like a former running back before knowing the truth about his high school career.
Saunders even claims to have turned down D2 scholarship offers to play running back.
But we’d say things worked out okay for him.
Saunders played defensive tackle at Western Illinois before the Chiefs, of all teams, drafted him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He won a pair of Super Bowl rings with Kansas City before joining the Saints in free agency in 2023.
Coincidentally, Saunders’ brother Kameron also happens to be a backup dancer for Taylor Swift. Swift was in attendance on Monday night watching her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
When Saunders picked off Mahomes, Swift could be seen leaning in toward someone else in her suite and saying “that’s my backup dancer’s brother.”
All the “NFL is scripted” conspiracy theories suddenly don’t look as crazy as they sounds, huh?