Khalen Saunders on Big Man Interception: Good return, wanted to make it to the end

Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders kept his team in the game Monday night by intercepting a pass in the end zone that could have easily been a touchdown and then showing surprising speed by returning it 37 yards.

The 324-pound Saunders was a high school running back and said he thought about taking him to the house like he did when he was younger and smaller, but he would have had to run more than 100 yards and had no petrol.

“The running back days flashed in my head. But that was 101, there’s still a long way to go,” said Saunders. “It was a good return, I wish I could have made it to the end although.”

Saunders said fighting for a big play even when the Chiefs appeared poised to score was part of the mentality Saints head coach Dennis Allen preached.

“DA always preaches defend every blade of grass, so I thought about defending every blade of grass, and when you have the ball good things happen, so I just tried to get around the ball,” Saunders said.

The longest interception return in NFL history by a 300-pound player was 88 yards, set by 340-list Washington’s Dan Wilkinson in 1999. That record may never be broken, but Saunders had an impressive performance Monday night .