One of the Washington Commanders’ touchdowns in their big win last week came on a play called “Taylor Swift.”
Carolina’s defense clearly wasn’t ready for this.
Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury revealed Thursday that Marcus Mariota’s first completion to tight end Ben Sinnott was named after the pop star who has become one of the faces of NFL coverage over the past year .
“His first catch was a touchdown, and the play was called ‘Taylor Swift,’ so you can’t really beat that to start your NFL scoring career,” Kingsbury said. “He was delighted with it.”
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Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and has become a prominent fan at several of his games. Kingsbury said the play was named by the tight ends and that he thought Sinnott, a second-round pick, “must like Taylor Swift on a deeper level.”
On the play from the Carolina 3-yard line, Sinnott gets in motion, runs to the outside, finds an empty space in coverage and catches Mariota’s pass like it’s on an invisible string for an easy touchdown .
“It was new this year,” Kingsbury said. “We probably carried it for three weeks and finally started calling it quits.”
It was the very first time Sinnott scored a touchdown in the NFL, and the last time he did so in a meaningful game was on November 25, 2023, when his Kansas State team played against the Iowa State.
“He’s getting better and better,” Kingsbury said. “I think the game is slowing down for him. He’s a huge talent.”
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Naming plays after pop stars is nothing new for Kingsbury, considered an offensive mastermind from his days at Southern California and Texas Tech, who acknowledged there were “a bunch” in the playbook game.
“But it’s a good question,” he said. “We will use it again.”
There’s also a piece called “Kelce,” although it’s unclear whether it’s named after Travis or his brother, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
“It’s just Kelce,” Kingsbury said. “They are not married together.”
