ASHBURN, Va. — Taylor Swift has infiltrated all parts of NFL culture. Even the names of plays.
Because of that, Ben Sinnott will always remember the play call of his first career touchdown: ‘Taylor Swift.’
‘It’s one I won’t ever forget,’ the rookie tight end said Thursday.
Sinnott certainly wasn’t ‘Invisible’ to Commanders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota for a 3-yard touchdown, the first catch of his career, as Washington steamrolled Carolina 40-7. He said his heart started pounding when he heard the play call because the play design is either a run or pass to him.
‘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 stoked about it.’
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A second-round pick from Kansas State, Sinnott is working his way into a more significant role in the passing game.
‘He’s been getting better and better,’ Kingsbury said. ‘I think the game’s slowing down for him. He’s a tremendous talent.’
The play had been on Kingsbury’s call sheet for about three games before the Commanders had an opportunity to run it.
“Kliff has a lot of good names for the plays,’ wide receiver Terry McLaurin said. ‘Honestly, it makes it easy to remember them. We’re a signal offense, but when you see those names when you’re going through the install, it kind of makes you chuckle.
“It keeps it fun. I don’t know if there’s a connection between ‘Taylor Swift’ being the play and how we execute the play, but it’s funny hearing some of the names.”
The name ‘Taylor Swift’ is new to this year’s playbook, Kingsbury said. Other pop stars are also on the list.
‘There’s a bunch of them,’ Kingsbury said. ‘But that’s a good one. We’ll use that again.’
Swift crossed over into the NFL zeitgeist last year due to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Commanders left guard Nick Allegretti, who played for the Chiefs last season, said he knew Swift’s fame would follow him in some form to Washington and that it was “cool to have her impact the play calling.”
“She’s a superstar for a good reason,’ Allegretti said. ‘She’s incredible at what she does.”
Washington’s tight ends named the play, Kingsbury said.
“I think the tight end room is just a bunch of guys who like Taylor Swift, man. It was just kind of group consensus,’ said Sinnott, who said Swift’s tunes “Our Song” or “August” are his favorites.
And when the ‘Taylor Swift’ call came, Sinnott was ‘Ready For It.’
This story has been updated with new information.