Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders kept his team in the game on Monday night by intercepting a pass in the end zone that easily could have been a touchdown, and then showing off some surprising speed in returning it 37 yards.
The 324-pound Saunders was a high school running back and said he was thinking about taking it to the house like he did when he was younger and smaller, but he would have had to go more than 100 yards and didn’t have the gas.
“The running back days flashed in my head. That was 101, though, that’s a long way to go,” Saunders said. “It was a good return, I wish I could’ve took it all the way though.”
Saunders said fighting for a big play even as the Chiefs looked ready to score was part of the mentality preached by Saints head coach Dennis Allen.
“DA always preaches defending every blade of grass, so that was on my mind, defending every blade of grass, and when you’re around the ball good things happen, so I was just trying to get around the ball,” Saunders said.
The longest interception return in NFL history by a 300-pound player was 88 yards, set by Washington’s Dan Wilkinson at a listed weight of 340 in 1999. That record may never be broken, but Saunders turned in an impressive effort on Monday night.