Another player with a connection to Taylor Swift made headlines on Monday Night Football.
With Taylor Swift back in Arrowhead Stadium for Monday Night Football on Oct. 8, the pop star was once again one of the game's main stories, though not in the capacity she typically is. The ESPN broadcast instead focused on her fan-favorite backup dancer, Kameron Saunders, having a brother, Khalen Saunders, on the New Orleans Saints.
Given the way the broadcast honed in on the largely unknown Saints' defensive tackle, one might have believed the game was scripted in the way it played out. Late in the third quarter with the Chiefs looking to build on their lead, a drop from JuJu Smith-Schuster at the goal line fell right into the hands of Khalen Saunders, who returned it out to the 37-yard line.
Khalen Saunders, 28, is in his sixth year in the NFL and second with the Saints after coming out of Western Illinois. Before joining New Orleans, the tackle spent the first four years of his career with the Chiefs but left in the 2023 offseason before Travis Kelce sparked his romance with Swift.
Swift's well-known Eras Tour is currently on break but will resume in Miami on Oct. 18. The tour will remain in the United States until mid-November when they go north to Canada and complete its 19-month-long journey by the end of the year.
Saints fail to take out shorthanded Chiefs to close out Week 5
Through the first five weeks of the NFL season, only two teams lay claim to a 5-0 record: the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs. Despite being shorthanded in Week 5 without star receiver Rashee Rice, the Chiefs managed to come out on top of their Monday Night Football matchup with the Saints to remain undefeated.
Without Rice, Kelce was given an elevated workload and delivered a vintage performance with nine catches for 70 yards. Smith-Schuster also stepped up as Rice's temporary replacement to record seven receptions for 130 yards.
Mahomes did not look limited in the Chiefs' passing game without Rice and threw for 331 yards but could not find the end zone on 39 attempts. Instead, Kansas City found their points on the ground with short plunges by Kareem Hunt and Xavier Worthy.
The Saints would also lose Derek Carr early in the fourth quarter to an oblique injury, forcing backup Jake Haener to lead the team's final drive. Carr is scheduled to receive an MRI in the days leading up to Week 6 for further evaluation.