The play call that led to rookie TE Ben Sinnott's first NFL score is one of many nods to pop culture.
The conversation that dominated Washington Commanders headquarters Thursday had nothing to do with the rib injury from which rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is rehabbing. Everyone wanted to know about "Taylor Swift" -- the play call that led to rookie tight end Ben Sinnott's first touchdown.
The Commanders also have a play called "Kelce," potentially in reference to Swift's boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said.
"But they're not, like, married together," he added.
In the locker room, several players said many play calls have simple, one-word tags that are easy to remember. Some are named after pop stars, such as Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Latto, and one is named after the model Amber Rose. Star receiver Terry McLaurin's is a passing concept called "Joe Montana."
"Stuff like that helps your memory," tight end Colson Yankoff said. "Instead of a boring, like, [long play call]."
Don't mistake the funny names for a lack of seriousness.
"Kliff's doing a good job of keeping their defenses on their toes, and I think doing a really good job marrying up some of our formations and having counters," McLaurin said. "It's fun being part of an offense like that because you feel like you have an answer no matter what the defense throws at you.
"Long as it works and it scores, it could be called 'Bob the Builder,' I don't care," he added, laughing.
"Taylor Swift" was new this year, Kingsbury said, and as a "run-pass option," it could've ended up as a handoff or a throw to the flat. Kingsbury had been ready to call it for three weeks before he finally got around to it last week against the Carolina Panthers. The play went for a three-yard touchdown.
"The tight ends came up with the name, so you'd have to ask them [why it's called that]," Kingsbury said, laughing. "But I think [Sinnott] must like Taylor Swift on a deeper level."
In the locker room, some tight ends, including John Bates, Colson Yankoff and Cole Turner, said they were not fans of the pop star. But others, including Yankoff, acknowledged his partner was a fan and that he knew some songs.
Yankoff said he's a fan of Swift's country era, such as "You Belong With Me," which came out in 2008, when he was 8. Sinnott preferred "Our Song" or "August."
"[August] is my fiancée's favorite song," Sinnott said. "[I] get some Brownie points for that one."
"She's a heck of a talent," McLaurin added. "She's an icon."
A reporter jokingly asked Sinnott if he felt a special connection to the play call because he's a rookie tight end and Swift's boyfriend is one of the best tight ends of all time.
"I'm not going to comment on that one," he said, grinning. "No disrespect to Travis."
While Sinnott enjoyed the result of the play, and that he hoped to hear it again, he suggested the play might receive so much attention that they'd need to change the name.
After his news conference ended, and the group of reporters broke up, someone joked to Sinnott: "Have fun talking about that for the rest of your life."