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The most sought after quarterback all off-season long was finally traded last week. The Eagles shipped off back-up quarterback Kevin Kolb to the desert in exchange for a king’s ransom that included a second round pick in and former Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Kolb was able to ink himself a five-year, $63 million deal with more than $22 million in guaranteed money. That’s pretty damn good for a quarterback who has a touchdown to interception ratio of in 19 career games.Beyond the moving parts and money included in this trade the biggest element of this deal is the Cardinals leap of faith and hope for stardom from a player that has been nothing better than a back-up for the organization that drafted him thirty-sixth overall out of Houston in 2007. One of my biggest questions over the years has been why would Andy Reid trade Kolb if he thought so highly of a player who had been a backup to Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick over the past few season in Philadelphia? Well that question was answered by Kolb in the following interview with XTRA 910 in Phoenix. The Cardinals new starting quarterback also gives some pinpoint analysis of why it seems like every player in the NFL loves to play for Andy Reid.
Ultimately the Kevin Kolb trade makes sense for a team in desperate need of talent and promise at the quarterback position in an extremely mediocre NFC West right now. Kolb could not only be the extra boost the Cards need, but the player that convinces Larry Fitzgerald to re-sign in Arizona for the long haul. The most hyped up quarterback in all of free agency has finally been give his chance. Now we’ll see if he can make Cardinals fans forget about the glory days of Kurt Warner and look forward to the future. Kevin Kolb joined XTRA 910 in Phoenix with MJ & Bickley to discuss what made the Arizona Cardinals feel “right” to him personally, why Andy Reid traded him away to Arizona, what makes Andy Reid an effective coach that players rave about, his plans to lead the Arizona Cardinals and the first opportunity to throw to Larry Fitzgerald.
Today in your press conference you said you know when something feels “right” and this feels “right” to you. Why does Arizona feel “right” to you?
“Well the answers I give is my best guess at it. It just feels right in the pit of my stomach. The city feels good when I am flying in. I feel like I have been through this coaches office three or four times and I haven’t. It’s my first time in. The coaches are great. The staff is great. The team seems to be awesome. There’s just good camaraderie here, good people, and they fit my personality. I just feel like there is a great future here.”
There are some detractors of this trade. Some people say if Andy Reid thought Kevin Kolb was so good then why would he let him go? What is your answers to that question?
“Well a couple of different things. Number one there is a great quarterback there right now and him and I competed for a full year last year. He’s a star. Obviously we know what he can do. Secondly, I think Andy did it for me. When I first brought it up to him he said ‘you ain’t going no where.’ He was joking obviously, but we had a good relationship like that. I am one of his guys. He drafted me there. We became very close, but I think he did it for me. I think he knew it was time. He knew I was ready. He saw me through last year. The highs and the lows and said ‘alright it’s time to unleash you.’ That’s what makes a great coach. He’s going to do what is right for the players and that’s why he has a long tenure in the NFL.”
What makes Andy Reid such an effective coach?
“I think just his detail to work. I mean he just teaches you the smallest details. He demands excellence at the highest level I have ever experienced. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Sometimes you do not talk for a week, but that’s what…when you have that burning desire to get everything right I think that is when you become great. I think it has shown time in and time out he has made quarterbacks really good coming through his system. Hopefully I am the next one.”
What is your plan to lead this team and get the guys behind you?
“Well first and foremost it has to come naturally and you know being in a locker-room since I was three years old it comes pretty naturally to me I think. I think the way I always started things out is leading by example and when you do it guys follow you. Obviously the position itself calls for leadership, so as soon as they see their leader doing it they will do it right behind you, but you can ask some people around me. I am laid back. I got some red hair somewhere in this brown head. I’ve been known to jump on some people when it is time to, but I hold myself accountable first and make sure I am not in the wrong and then we will get it corrected.”
What was it like when you had that opportunity to throw with Larry Fitzgerald. What did you take from that?
“The first thing I remember is he ran a slant and I burned it through his hands. He looked back at me like ‘Boy you’re bringing it!’ [Host: Really?] Yeah so we were kind of laughing it up on that. Of course I was amped up and he was just getting another workout. That is kind of what happens. It went smooth. We were talking our way through things and there was great chemistry. I feel like meeting the guys and the way Larry describes them feels like everyone is going to be like that. I look forward to getting out there and getting better. That’s what these next 20 days are for. It’s about just getting better and making sure we are ready to go.”
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