Doug Pederson: Carson Wentz's Traits Similar to Brett Favre's

Doug Pederson spent seven years total in two stints with the Green Bay Packers backing up Brett Favre. So when he makes a comment like this, you listen.

Pederson has been around a ton of quarterbacks in his playing and coaching career, from Dan Marino to Alex Smith, Donovan McNabb to Nick Foles, Michael Vick to Jim McMahon.

Yet when asked what quarterback Carson Wentz most reminds him of, Pederson didn't hesitate.

"You know, a little bit of Brett Favre, honestly," he said.

As in Super Bowl champ Brett Favre. As in Hall of Famer Brett Favre. As in the guy who was so tough he didn't miss a start from September of 1992 through December of 2010, a span of 18 years.

"He's got that mentality," Pederson said. "He's got that aggressiveness that Brett had and those are some of the skill sets that I see in Carson. That aggression, that ability to throw the ball down the field.

"And listen, I love quarterbacks that are willing to take a chance, take a calculated risk down the field. Favre was that way, and I see a lot of the same characteristics in Carson."

The Eagles made the former North Dakota State star the second pick in the draft Thursday after trading from No. 13 to No. 8 and then from No. 8 to No. 2.

And the Favre comparisons? Wentz didn't mind.

"It's pretty unbelievable," he said. "Growing up, Favre has always been my favorite guy to watch, just his mentality, the way he played the game, the way he approached the game.

"He had fun with it, his grittiness, hard-working attitude. I just loved everything about watching him play and being compared - obviously I've got a long way to go, but it's pretty cool hearing that."

Favre began his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 1991 before going 160-93 in 16 seasons with the Packers. He finished with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings, retiring after the 2010 season.

Pederson said Wentz shares the same fearlessness as Favre, the same gunslinger mentality.

"Listen, I want him, whenever there's a bad play, I want him to make the next one a great play, and he's got a short-term memory that way," Pederson said.

"He's onto the next play, the next series. Those are some of the qualities that stand out with Carson. That's his mental toughness. It's hard to coach that, it's hard to coach that. The Russell Wilsons of the world kind of have that, no matter what happens on the field, you come back.

"Brett had it like no other, but you see a lot of the similarities there."

One of the hallmarks of Favre's career was playing hurt. He started an NFL-record 297 consecutive games.

Wentz missed eight games last year with a broken wrist before returning for the FCS Championship Game and beating Jacksonville State, 37-10.

"That's how I am," he said. "As a competitor, I knew if I got any more opportunities to come back as a Bison and finish my career, I was going to take advantage of it, and I'm very fortunate that I did get that opportunity.

"I had guys telling me both ways, some people saying it would be best to just focus on the next level, and I believed I gave too much effort and over 4½ years of my life to that program, and I wanted to go out the right way, and I'm fortunate that I did."

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