Believe it or not, C.J. Stroud has a lot in common with Brett Favre. Even after just two plays in the NFL.
Stroud, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, made his debut for the Texans on Sunday. It was the first start of his career and his first game.
There is a lot of hype surrounding Stroud and the expectation is that he will help lead a floundering franchise back to the mountain top. After a great career at Ohio State, it’s not hard to see why!
Houston’s rookie quarterback took the field for his first regular season game against Baltimore on the road. The Ravens got the ball first and ultimately punted on their first possession of the year.
That gave the Texans the ball with 12:45 in the first quarter. They handed the ball off to Dameon Pierce and got the new era underway on first down.
C.J. Stroud’s second offensive play was his first pass.
And then Stroud got to throw the first pass of his NFL career on second down. It was completed, but did not go as planned.
Stroud dropped back in the pocket and looked to his right. He threw a quick pass to the edge.
Baltimore’s defensive front swatted the pass straight up in the air.
Fortunately for Stroud, there was someone there to catch the deflected pass — himself. The 21-year-old quarterback caught the ball and ran forward for no gain.
C.J. Stroud’s first NFL completion, on his first NFL throw, was also his first NFL reception. It was a completion to himself!
Believe it or not, this was not the first time in history that this happened. It was the second.
Favre made his NFL debut on September 13, 1992. He, too, had his first pass knocked up into the air and caught it himself.
It is safe to say that absolutely nobody had that on their bingo board. Stroud and Favre live alongside one another in the NFL history books. Who woulda thunk?!