Kevin Kolb's patience has finally been rewarded.
Following the trade that sent Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a 2010 second round draft pick and a 2011 3rd- or 4th round pick, head coach Andy Reid unequivocally pronounced Kolb the starting quarterback of the Eagles in 2010.
Approximately 15 minutes before news of the trade broke yesterday evening, Kolb received a phone call from Reid and he knew that something was up.
"I was obviously excited," Kolb said during a press conference with the Philadelphia media. "Andy called me and said 'Congratulations you're the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.' And it's been a dream of mine for a long time and I'm glad. As you all know, it's been a patient waiting game and I'm glad the opportunity's here."
"There's been plenty of coverage as we all know, so to see it finally done was, like I said, a relief. But, you know, it was good to see and glad to see that confidence and that trust that they have in me finally come true."
Kolb knows that McNabb is the most decorated quarterback in Eagles history, and while he's grateful for everything that McNabb has done to help Kolb along the way, the University of Houston product is confident that he can create his own history in Philadelphia.
"Obviously we know what Donovan's done," Kolb said. "He's been a Pro Bowl quarterback; he's led this team to a Super Bowl and five NFC championships. Hopefully the only thing we change in that is that we win the Super Bowl.
"That's our number one goal. That's been our goal since I've been here and it's been our goal since Andy's been here. It's not, of course we want to win the division, it's not been to win 10 games, it's been to win a Super Bowl and that's not going to change because we're going younger or because people think we're in a rebuilding year. It's going to be the same focus for us day in and day out as it was when we had all the veterans here and we were trying to make those runs two or three years ago."
Kolb also added that he was unfazed when Reid told him that McNabb would remain in the NFC East and would face off against the Eagles twice a season.
"Really I didn't even blink when Andy told me, I really didn't," he said. "I'm excited about it. I think, sure it's going to have a little bit of drama but at the same time it's going to be exciting. I mean, this is going to be a fun ride and I truly have that outlook on it, I'm looking forward to it and I think that this team will surprise some people."
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 1:35 p.m., April 5
