QUITE A BIT, ACTUALLY.
"Do you see a number of similarities between the Packers handing the reins to Aaron Rodgers and the Eagles doing the same to Kevin Kolb, feeling that the time is right for a title within a few years?''
-- Mark G., Folsom, Pa.
Yes, there are a few similarities. Obviously, the organization has faith in Kolb to take the reins and keep the Eagles a playoff team, same as the Packers with Rodgers. And, yes, he's been developed by a coaching staff that doesn't fear the unknown. That was the biggest thing in Green Bay when it decided to go with Rodgers, even when Brett Favre wanted to come back. Mike McCarthy had watched Rodgers in practice and interacting around the team every day for two seasons. He knew Rodgers the same way Andy Reid knows Kolb now.
But there's one difference: The Packers would have let Favre return for the 2008 season had he chosen in March to say he'd play rather than retire. By the time he was certain he wanted to play, it was early July 2008, and the Packers, who'd already promised the job to Rodgers, felt they'd had enough of Favre's waffling and wouldn't reverse course. So yes, Favre was traded eventually, but only after he'd retired and changed his mind. That didn't happen with Donovan McNabb.