Josiah Trotter's sack and pick-six in his debut is an NFL first

Rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter intercepted Joe Burrow and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown with 2:16 left in the third quarter at Cincinnati, the first interception of his career. Chase McLaughlin's extra point cut the Bengals' lead to 27-20 in what became a 33-27 Tampa Bay loss. By Monday, the play had grown into something bigger than a highlight from a losing effort: a piece of NFL history.

Key facts

• Josiah Trotter intercepted Joe Burrow and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown with 2:16 left in the third quarter at Cincinnati.
• Fox Sports' Greg Auman reported that Trotter is the first player in NFL history to record a sack and an interception returned for a touchdown in his NFL debut, a claim also reported by Yahoo Sports and SI.
• Trotter finished his debut with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, the sack and the pick-six.
• It is also the first pick-six by a Buccaneers player in his first career game.
• Trotter, a second-round rookie out of Missouri, was one of two rookies starting on Tampa Bay's defense in Week 1 alongside outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr.

What makes it a first

Fox Sports' Greg Auman reported that Trotter is the first player in NFL history to record both a sack and an interception returned for a touchdown in his NFL debut, a claim Yahoo Sports and SI both carried after Auman's report. Trotter had recorded a sack earlier in the game before stepping in front of Burrow's pass in the third quarter, giving him both plays in the same afternoon, something no player had managed in a debut before him.

The pick-six alone was already a piece of franchise history, the first interception returned for a touchdown by a Buccaneer in his first career game. Trotter's full stat line for the day, 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, the sack and the interception, made his debut one of the most productive on record for a rookie at his position.

Trotter was one of two rookies starting on Tampa Bay's defense in Week 1, alongside outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr., the first rookie defensive starters for the Buccaneers since Calijah Kancey in 2023. A second-round pick out of Missouri, Trotter turned that first start into a piece of NFL trivia that will follow him for the rest of his career.

For the full account of how the rest of that game unfolded, see Buccaneers lose to Cincinnati Bengals 27-33.