Jack Strand might’ve just provided a good omen to the Green Bay Packers.
The Atlanta Falcons‘ rookie quarterback made his NFL regular season debut in Sunday’s Week 2 loss to the Carolina Panthers, and what he did on his first pass calls back to Brett Favre.
Yes, Favre is most known for his time with the Packers, as well as for his seemingly inability to retire from the NFL.
But those who really know the history of this league know that Favre began his career with the Falcons. And he began it in unfortunate fashion.
Jack Strand Does Like Brett Favre
The first pass Favre ever threw with the Falcons: a pick-six.
Yep, he threw a touchdown on his first throw in the NFL — it just happened to go to the other team, being intercepted and brought back to the house for a TD.
That’s what Strand did on Sunday.
He came on in relief of Cooper Rush, and after a couple handoffs, was asked to throw the ball on third down.
Strand tried to fit the ball into traffic, but it only found its way to Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd, who had already picked off Rush, too.
Lloyd found a way to navigate back between a bunch of players to score a 16-yard touchdown on his interception.
Favre had thrown his career-starting pick-six in 1991. And now 35 years later, Strand had done the same thing.
Of course, Favre went on to have an incredible career to make the Hall of Fame and be a Super Bowl champion.
Will Strand do the same? People wouldn’t be on it, but there’s another omen, too.
More Super Bowl Stats
Favre isn’t the only quarterback to throw a pick-six on his first career pass and then win a Super Bowl.
Sam Darnold did it, too. He’s the most recent to have done this, before Strand.
Darnold’s pick-six came with the New York Jets in 2018.
From ESPN Research: Jack Strand is the first QB to throw a pick-six on his first career pass attempt since Sam Darnold in 2018. Strand is the first #Falcons player to do that since Brett Favre in 1991.
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) September 20, 2026
Darnold, of course, has not had a straightforward NFL career. He needed to go fail with the Carolina Panthers and be a backup with the San Francisco 49ers before resurrecting things with the Minnesota Vikings. He finally made it to the Seattle Seahawks, where he won the Super Bowl in February.
Strand, as an undrafted rookie from a Division II school, would’ve never expected a straightforward NFL path if he could even get one at all. No, he’s not expected to turn into Favre or even Darnold. But in an odd way on Sunday, he tied into them — and they provided proof that not every story that starts poorly has a bad ending.
Falcons’ Jack Strand Joins Brett Favre in NFL History