The Philadelphia Eagles and Kevin Kolb

Kevin Kolb, the six foot three, two-hundred eighteen pound twenty three year old from Stephenville, Texas, will gain the honor of being the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League in the year of 2010. He is the first football player to ever come out of Stephenville, Texas and start in the NFL. In his free time, he loves hunting and fishing, a true Texas boy. Kolb was born in Victoria, Texas on August 24, 1984 to later move into Stephenville and become the best quarterback to ever play for them, even though he did not win a state championship as a Hornet.

Kolb set many Stephenville High School football records, even though he only started three years of his career. He had a 64 percent completion record throughout his career in high school, which is comparable to the likes of Joe Montana or Dan Marino. He set the record in all time offensive yards with 3,357 passing and 197 rushing, making a total of 3,554 yards. His junior year in 2005, he had 29 touchdowns, which is also comparable to an NFL quarterback today. His senior year in 2002 was his ultimately best year. He racked up an amazing 30 touchdowns, with only 4 interceptions, making his touchdown: interception ratio 7.5:1. That is an outstanding ratio almost unheard of at any level of play. He was given many post season honors, such as making the Honorable Mention All-State list in 2002, the All-Big Country First Team, and 2 District 8-4A Offensive MVP awards. Kolb made news with universities everywhere and was scouted by schools of national championship potential. The Big 12 had three schools interested in him, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and Texas Tech, along with private Christian school, Texas Christian University. Kolb gave a verbal commitment to Oklahoma State University, and was very excited about going to start a new life in Stillwater, Oklahoma, until he heard that his Stephenville coach, Art Briles, would be going to Houston to coach the Cougars. Not long after, Kolb called Coach Gundy from Oklahoma State and told him that he would be signing with Coach Briles at the University of Houston to be the Cougars’ starting quarterback.

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In Houston, Kolb also set most of the offensive records. He was a four-year starter for the Cougars, another thing that’s outstanding at a college level. He set records for not only the University of Houston, but for Conference USA as well, and led Houston to their first and only Conference USA championship. Kolb set the record at University of Houston and for the entire conference on all-time offensive yards with 12,725, and set the records in Houston for having the most touchdowns that he was responsible for with 96, the most pass completions with 888, and the most career plays with 1,883. Kolb finished college as a Business major with a 61.2 overall pass completion percentage. In the 2007 NFL draft, Kolb was projected to be selected very early on, in the first or second round, and did just that. He was selected as the Philadelphia Eagles’ first overall draft pick in the second round.

The Philadelphia Eagles already had a starting quarterback in 2007, a franchise quarterback at that, Donovan McNabb. But they knew that at 30, McNabb would not be able to play forever unless, of course, he was like Brett Favre. Unlike Favre, though, McNabb has only played four full seasons due to injury, while Favre has started every single game since 1992, except 1 in 1993. So Kolb sat patiently and waited until one day in the 2009 pre-season, Donovan McNabb broke 2 ribs, and Michael Vick (the would-be second string) was under a suspension from being in jail for 2 years for being convicted of “dog fighting” while he played for the Atlanta Falcons, so Kolb was the next in line to start. He started against the Kansas City Chiefs, threw for almost 400 yards, and won the game 34-14. The next week, Kolb threw for over 300 yards again, this time against the soon to be Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints. Combined, Kolb threw for over 700 yards in his first two professional starts, and that set another record. Kolb is the first quarterback to ever throw for that many passing yards in history. On April 4, 2010, the Philadelphia Eagles made a deal with division rival Washington Redskins, the 37th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft for quarterback Donovan McNabb, leaving Kolb and Vick as the only two quarterbacks on the Eagles’ roster, and Kolb is listed as the starter as head coach Andy Reid talks about how excited he is to move onto a new era in Philadelphia with the new quarterback and thinks he will surprise us all. Kolb signed a one year extension on his contract on April 29, 2010 to last until after the 2010-2011 season is over.

Kolb is really out making a good name for Stephenville, as he is one of the classiest athletes there is. Fans in Philadelphia and all over the United States of America will be watching him as he undergoes the greatest test of his life so far out there playing on Lincoln Financial Field, and continuing to show the world his talent. Kevin Kolb will shock everyone some day, and we are lucky to be alive and able to watch the history of Kevin Kolb happen before our eyes.

By Courtney Ripley
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer