Carson Palmer

Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals.

After losing to Oregon, Palmer got his first career start the next week against Washington, making him the first true freshman quarterback to start for USC since Rob Johnson in 1991.

He finished the game with 18/31 completions, 279 passing yards, and 1 touchdown.

He continued as the starter the next week, racking up 19-of-26 completions, 203 yards, and a touchdown in a win against Stanford.

In week 11, Palmer started against number 3 UCLA, in what was his toughest test yet.

Although his team lost, he had a career-high 28/43 completions, 252 yards, and 1 passing touchdown.

The Trojans won 10–0 against #9 Notre Dame in their regular season finale, with Palmer finishing with 14/32 completions, 188 passing yards, and his first career rushing touchdown.

Palmer started his first career bowl game against TCU in the Sun Bowl.

He was sacked 6 times and completed 17-of-28 passes, 280 passing yards, and 1 touchdown.

He ended his freshman season with 130 completions, 235 attempts(55.3%), 1,755 passing yards, 116 rushing yards, 7 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and a rushing touchdown.

Palmer entered the University of Southern California in 1998, where he played for head coach Paul Hackett the first three years of his college career.

He began the season as a back-up to Mike Van Raaphorst.

They split time throughout the first 8 games, with Palmer mainly coming in during the second half.

The Trojans' season opener was played against Purdue.

Palmer only played for three series in the second half and went 3-of-6 and 79 passing yards.

The next week, he came in at quarterback during the third quarter and threw his first career touchdown pass while playing against San Diego State.

In week 4, he almost played the entire second half in a 30–10 loss to the number-10 Florida State.

He bounced back the next week in a comeback win against Arizona State, finishing the game with 4 completions for 69 yards and a touchdown.

In the week-8 match-up with Oregon, he came in sporadically but finished the game with a season-high 10/19 completions for 179 yards.

Going into his sophomore year in 1999, he was named the starting quarterback of the Trojans.

The season opener was against Hawaii and Palmer played in a little more than two quarters.

He finished the game with 14/16 completions (87.5%), 167 passing yards, 1 touchdown pass, and a 9-yard rushing touchdown.

He played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 2002.

Palmer was selected by the Bengals first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft, and played eight seasons with the team.

During his tenure in Cincinnati, he helped lead the team to its first winning season and playoff appearance in 15 years and was named to two Pro Bowls.

Amid declining success and conflicts with Bengals ownership, Palmer was traded to the Oakland Raiders, where he played two seasons before joining Arizona.

With the Cardinals, Palmer enjoyed his most successful year in 2015 when he led the Cardinals to a division title and an NFC Championship Game appearance.

Palmer was also named to his third Pro Bowl and received second-team All-Pro honors.

He retired following the 2017 regular season after spending much of the year on injured reserve.

Palmer was born in Fresno, California.

By the time he was in seventh grade, Palmer had remarkable size and arm strength for his age.

His father, Bill Palmer, enrolled him in private classes in Orange County, where he was later taught by quarterback guru Bob Johnson.

He went on to attend Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.

At Santa Margarita High School, he played on their high school football team.

As the quarterback on the freshman team, Palmer was so good that members of the varsity team halted practices to watch him play.

After a successful stint as a starter his junior year, Palmer received offers from USC, Notre Dame, Colorado, Miami (Florida), and reportedly San Diego State and Northern Arizona University (where his mother attended college).

He followed up a stellar junior season with a remarkable senior season, cementing himself as one of the most touted players ever to come out of Santa Margarita Catholic High School.

In his senior season, he led Orange County with a 203.9 quarterback rating.

He was named to the first-team all-league and All-CIF despite suffering a stress fracture in his right foot.

Palmer finished his high school career with 27 school records and 2 straight CIF championships.