The year was 2004, and I was a fresh young college student ready to take life by the horns. Meanwhile in the middle of our great land, there was a young quarterback, Carson Palmer, out of the University of Southern California who was looking to do the same with the Cincinnati Bengals. While my life has had many twists and turns since then, that young gunslinger out of USC has thrown 285 NFL touchdowns. As week one approaches, let’s get to know the three-time Pro Bowler with 5 Fun Facts About Carson Palmer.
1. While at USC, he roomed with not one but two future NFL players in Matt Cassel and Troy Polamalu. Those must have been some intense Madden games!
2. Palmer was the number one pick of the 2003 NFLL Draft, so clearly he was bound to set the world on fire in his rookie year…One problem: he never saw the field! He is the only quarterback who was taken number one in the draft to never play a down in his first season.
3. While in Cincinnati, Carson’s brother, Jordan Palmer, was his backup quarterback for three seasons and on November 21, 2010 they became the first pair of brothers to play quarterback in the same game for the same team. Talk about a family affair.
4. The 2005 playoffs had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows for the young Mr. Palmer–they both happened on the same play! In a divisional playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Palmer connected with rookie wide receiver Chris Henry on a 66-yard pass. But shortly after releasing the pass, Carson was on the ground in excruciating pain with tears in both his ACL and MCL.
5. Palmer will turn 38 during the final week of the 2017 regular season. This makes him and Larry Fitzgerald the only two players in the NFL to be the oldest quarterback to number one wide receiver. They sure take the expression “oldie but goody” to an extreme.
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