Alvin Kamara's 106-yard kick return touchdown is the Saints Play of the Day
Alvin Kamara's 106-yard kick return touchdown is the Saints Play of the Day Alvin Kamara set a New Orleans Saints team record with his first kick return TD
There are 106 days to go until the New Orleans Saints open their 2025 season with the Arizona Cardinals, which means Alvin Kamara's 106-yard kick return touchdown is our Saints Play of the Day. He answered an early score by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense to help tie it up 7-7 in Week 17's regular season finale.
Kamara set a team record with his first kick return TD as a rookie back in 2017, which you can see here. Before that, the team's longest kick return had traveled 102 yards, a record set by Eric Guliford back in 1997, which we'll reflect on further in just a few days.
On this play, Kamara chopped his feet in the end zone to read the field, then sprinted out to follow good blocks from teammates like Jonathan Freeny, Chris Banjo, Willie Snead, and Taysom Hill. Michael Mauti and Justin Hardee sprang him free at the Saints' 30-yard line, and at that point all Kamara had in front of him was 70 yards of green grass.
It's an impressive play, and while Kamara hasn't maintained an active presence in the return game (largely due to how important he's been offensively), it did show many of the traits that made him special. Patience to follow his blockers and decisive cuts in the open field have gone a long way in Kamara's career. He didn't become the Saints' all-time leader in rushing attempts (1,543), yards on the ground (6,779), and touchdown runs (60) by accident. With his career moving into its final stages, we're eager to see what he has in store for 2025.
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