Carson Palmer

Carson Palmer

File:Carson Palmer 2012-09-30.jpg Palmer with the Oakland Raiders in September 2012
No. 3     Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1979-12-27) December 27, 1979
Place of birth: Fresno, California
High School: Santa Margarita (CA) Catholic
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Weight: 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College: USC
NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
Debuted in 2004 for the Cincinnati Bengals
Career history
* Cincinnati Bengals ( 2003– 2010) Oakland Raiders ( 2011– 2012) Arizona Cardinals ( 2013–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
* 2× Pro Bowl (2005, 2006) Pro Bowl MVP (2006) NFL Alumni Quarterback of the Year (2005) FedEx Air Player of the Year (2005) AFC Player of the Year (2005) AFC Passing Touchdowns Leader (2005) Ed Block Courage Award (2006) Bengals franchise records Raiders Offensive MVP (2012) Heisman Trophy (2002) Consensus All-American (2002) First-team All-Pac-10 (2002) Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year (2002) Pop Warner Trophy (2002)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2013
TD-INT	213-152
Passing yards	32,739
Passer rating	85.9
Stats at NFL.com

Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC) and won the Heisman Trophy in 2002. The Cincinnati Bengals chose him with the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, and Palmer also played two seasons for the Oakland Raiders. He has been selected to two Pro Bowls. He is the older brother of NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer.

Early years

Palmer was born in Fresno, California. He attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, 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 taught by quarterback guru Bob Johnson.

Palmer was scheduled to enroll in Santa Margarita Catholic High School as a freshman. Initially, the plan was to move the family to the East Coast but after careful consideration, Bill Palmer realized that the level of competition in California was best for Palmer. Palmer enrolled at Santa Margarita and Bill Palmer commuted home on weekends via airplane. After a successful stint as a starter his junior year, Palmer started to field offers from USC, Notre Dame, Colorado, and Miami. 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 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.

College career

Palmer and his retired jersey at USC.

Palmer attended the University of Southern California, and played for the USC Trojans football team from 1999 to 2002. He arrived on the USC campus and immediately competed for the starting quarterback job with Mike Van Raaphorst. Van Raaphorst won, but due to his ineffectiveness, Palmer was named the starter in the ninth game of the season, becoming only the second true freshman ever to start as quarterback for the Trojans. Palmer roomed with fellow USC football players and future NFL players Troy Polamalu and Matt Cassel.

After three underwhelming years at USC, Palmer had a breakout senior year under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who was brought in the year before by head coach Pete Carroll. The revamped Trojans offense led to Carson Palmer becoming the fifth Trojan to win the Heisman Trophy, after running backs Mike Garrett (1965), O.J. Simpson (1968), Charles White (1979), and Marcus Allen (1981). Palmer was the first Trojan quarterback to be so honored; his successor, Matt Leinart, won it as a junior in 2004.

Palmer completed 309 of 489 passes for 3942 yards and 33 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions during the 2002 season, and later led the Trojans to an impressive 38–17 victory over the University of Iowa in the Orange Bowl. His completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns were all USC single season records. In a November 30 game against Notre Dame, Palmer threw for 425 yards and led his team to 610 yards of total offense, the most ever gained against Notre Dame in each category. Following his 2002 senior season, Palmer was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. He finished his college career as the Pac-10 Conference's all-time leader in passing yards (11,818), completions (927) and total offense (11,621), along with 72 career touchdown passes, a USC record at that time (since surpassed by Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley).

Statistics

from USC biography

• 1999: 39/53 (73.6%) for 490 yards, 3 Passing TDs and 1 Rushing TD; with 3 Interceptions
• 2000: 228/415 (54.9%) for 2914 yards, 16 Passing TDs and 2 Rushing TDs; with 18 Interceptions
• 2001: 221/377 (58.6%) for 2717 yards, 13 Passing TDs and 1 Rushing TD; with 12 Interceptions
• 2002: 309/489 (63.2%) for 3942 yards, 33 Passing TDs and 4 Rushing TDs; with 10 Interceptions

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

2003 season

Unlike most quarterbacks drafted first overall, Palmer did not play at all during his rookie season; instead, Palmer learned the position during games and in practice under head coach Marvin Lewis and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese as veteran quarterback Jon Kitna, who signed with the Bengals as an unrestricted free agent in 2001, took every snap during the 2003 season. For his efforts, Kitna was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

2004 season

After learning the position his rookie season, Palmer was given the starting quarterback position for the 2004 season and started 13 games; the Bengals finished that season at 8–8.

Palmer made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the New York Jets. Palmer completed 18 out of 27 passes. He also threw 2 touchdown passes and an interception. The Jets would hold on to beat the Bengals, 31-24. "We came here expecting to win,” Palmer said. “We had what we needed. We had what we wanted. We had the ball with two minutes to go in good field position and I turned it over. I can’t make plays like that for us to win.”

In Week 2, Palmer struggled. He completed 21 out of 38 passes but threw no touchdown passes and 1 interception. But the Bengals won the game over the Miami Dolphins, giving Palmer his first win as a starter.

In Week 3, Palmer struggled again against the Baltimore Ravens. He completed 25 out of 52 passes for 316 passing yards. But he was picked off 3 times and lost a fumble. The Bengals lost the game, 23-9. “You can’t get greedy,” Palmer said. “When you’re a young quarterback, you get greedy, and I have to fight that temptation. You need to develop patience. When something isn’t there, you don’t just throw it up in the air."

In Week 4, Palmer struggled against a powerful Steelers team going 20/37 for 164 yards with a touchdown but 2 costly interceptions as the Bengals lost 28-17.

Palmer went into the Bengals' week 5 bye with stats of 84/154 for 875 yards with only 3 passing touchdowns against 11 sacks and 8 total turnovers (7 interceptions and a lost fumble). The Bengals meanwhile sat at 1-3 and in last place in the AFC North during this point in the season.

In Week 6, Palmer struggled again against the Browns going 20 of 36 for 148 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception in the 34-17 loss.

In Week 7, Palmer went 12 of 21 for 198 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the 23-10 home win over the Broncos.

In Week 8, Palmer went 20 of 36 for 247 yards with an interception and lost a fumble in a 27-20 loss at the Titans.

In Week 12, Palmer threw 4 touchdown passes for 251 passing yards against the Browns. He was also picked off 3 times. The Bengals won the game, 58-48. The 106 points was the second most points in an NFL game. “We kept putting them away, and they kept coming back,” said Palmer, who threw a career-high four touchdown passes. “We kept expecting them to slacken up, but they never did.”

In Week 13, Palmer threw for a career high 382 passing yards and 3 touchdown passes. On the final drive of the game, Palmer made several big plays. He threw a 32-yard pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh and a 22-yard pass to Chad Johnson. The Bengals won the game when Shayne Graham kicked a 24-yard field goal with 0:02 seconds left in the game.

2005 season

In 2005, the Palmer-led Cincinnati Bengals ended fifteen years of futility by notching their first winning season since 1990 and winning the division with an 11–5 record.

Statistically, Palmer had a stellar individual season, throwing a league-high 32 touchdown passes and leading the league in completion percentage. He became the first Cincinnati Bengals quarterback to finish with a quarterback rating over 100, setting the team record in that category; and he also tied Indianapolis' Peyton Manning for most consecutive games, 9, with a triple-digit quarterback rating.

In Week 1, Palmer completed 26 out of 34 passes and 2 passing touchdowns against the Browns. The Bengals won the game 27-13. In Week 2, Palmer had another great game, throwing for 337 yards to go along with 3 passing touchdowns and an interception. Palmer threw 3 more touchdown passes in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears to improve to 3-0. That was the first time the Bengals have started the season 3-0 since 1990.

In Week 4, Palmer again had a rating over 100 in a game against the Houston Texans. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, Carson completed 22 out of 33 passes for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, the Bengals lost their first game of the year, 23-20. The Bengals would bounce back against the Titans in Week 6. Palmer threw for 272 passing yards and 2 more passing touchdowns. His rating was over 100 for the ninth straight game dating back to last season. “He feels like he’s invincible, but right now he knows he can go win it the next play,” Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said of his quarterback. “He doesn’t have to win it on every play. And I think that says a lot for how he is and how important he is to this football team.”

Palmer's consecutive games streak of over a 100 quarterback rating ended in Week 7 against the Steelers. Carson completed 21 of 36 passes for 227 yards but was picked off 2 times and for the first time all season, failed to throw at least a touchdown in a game. “It wasn’t anything in particular they did,” said Palmer, who had a measly 53.8 passer rating for the game. “I just didn’t play well enough to win. I gave them two turnovers. When you play a championship team, you can’t do that.”

Palmer bounced back in Week 8 against the Green Bay Packers. He threw for 3 touchdown passes and an interception for 237 yards. The Bengals won the game, 21-14. That was one of the best comebacks in Bengals history.

In Week 9, Palmer passed for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Bengals won their game against the Ravens. Palmer finished the season with a 101.1 rating.

Carson signed a six-year contract extension through the 2014 season with the Bengals on December 29, 2005. In addition to the three years remaining on his existing deal, the value of the extension was worth $118.75 million over nine years. "Hopefully this is the last place I'll end up playing," Palmer said. "That's so rare in this league these days. It's so rare to see a person have a 5-, 8-, 10-, 12-year career in one place. And I feel very fortunate that it looks like that's going to be my future."

On January 8, 2006, the Bengals met their division rival Pittsburgh in the first round of the AFC playoffs at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

On the Bengals' first pass play, Carson Palmer threw a 66-yard pass to rookie receiver Chris Henry. It was the longest completion in Bengals playoff history. After Palmer released the pass, Steelers defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen was pushed from behind while diving for Palmer, violently wrenching Palmer's knee, and he was forced to leave the game. A magnetic resonance imaging test revealed a severe knee injury, thought to be career-threatening at the time; Palmer had tears of both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments as well as cartilage and meniscus damage. Coincidentally, Henry himself suffered a knee injury on the same play, though far less severe. Having knocked Palmer out of the game the Steelers went on to win 31–17.

During the off-season, the league's Rules Committee modified the rule regarding low hits on quarterbacks. The new rule prohibited defenders from hitting a passer at or below the knee unless they are blocked into him. The so-called "Carson Palmer Rule" now requires that defenders take every opportunity to avoid hitting a quarterback at or below the knees when the quarterback is in a defenseless position looking to throw with both feet on the ground.

Rehabilitation

Carson Palmer under center.

Palmer underwent reconstructive surgery on his injured knee in Houston, Texas on January 10, 2006. Lonnie Paulos, a surgeon who is independent of the Cincinnati Bengals, performed the operation. Initially, the Bengals organization stated that Palmer had torn the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments with no other damage. However, Paulos later told the Associated Press that the damage was more extensive and also included a dislocation of the patella. Paulos called the injury "devastating and potentially career-ending". The Bengals accepted Paulos' assessment

Nonetheless, Palmer vowed he'd be the starting quarterback in the Bengals' regular season opener at Kansas City on September 10, 2006.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis stated, "This is a serious injury, but we are told the procedure went very well. We know Carson, and we know he will apply himself fully to his rehabilitation. This result encourages our feeling that Carson will be ready to open the 2006 season as our starting quarterback."

During his rehabilitation, Palmer has made several other pointed comments, particularly in an issue of Sports Illustrated, in which he was on the cover shown using a relatively new form of aquatic therapy developed by HydroWorx. In the article, Palmer stated that: "I hate the Steelers more than I hate UCLA."

File:Carson Palmer 2006.jpg

Palmer playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006.

2006 season

Palmer returned in time for the 2006 preseason. After the Bengals' 48–17 pre-season victory over the visiting Green Bay Packers on August 28, 2006, which saw Palmer complete 9 of 14 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns in just less than two quarters of play in his much-expected debut (which included an 11-yard run for a first down that culminated in a slide on his surgically repaired left knee), Palmer reiterated his position that he would be starting in the Bengals' season opener at Kansas City.

His performance drew rave reviews from many experts, many of whom expected far less of him less than a year after such a serious injury. ESPN analyst Joe Theismann, himself a former quarterback with the Washington Redskins (whose own career was ended by a gruesome broken leg against the New York Giants on November 18, 1985), praised Palmer for his mental toughness in taking hits and not being gun-shy about staying in the pocket where chances of injury are often high.

Palmer ended up starting all 16 of the Bengals' regular season games, missing only one snap, due to his getting the wind knocked out of him. He actually did not become totally comfortable with his repaired knee until week 9 against the Chargers when he threw for a career high of 440 yards. Despite his previous injury, he passed the 4,000 yard mark for the first time in his career, finishing the season with a franchise record 4,035 passing yards and 28 touchdowns, only 13 interceptions and 93.9 rating. He also made the Pro Bowl for the second year in a row, becoming the first Bengals quarterback to do this since Boomer Esiason in 1988 and 1989. Palmer was named Most Outstanding Player at the Pro Bowl, leading the AFC down the field in the final two minutes for the win. He completed 8 of 17 passes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns, one to his Bengals teammate Chad Johnson. Palmer placed 3rd in voting for NFL Comeback Player of the Year, behind Drew Brees and Chad Pennington. Unfortunately, his team suffered quite a few misfortunes, such as missed point afters and field goals, while slipping from an 11–5 record in 2005 to 8–8 in 2006 and failing to make the playoffs due to a game 16 loss against their hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After winning the Pro Bowl MVP, Palmer declared, "This is a huge honor and extremely exciting and I feel very blessed just to be here, let alone for the outcome to be this. But my goal's to be in a Super Bowl. And to win a Super Bowl. That's where my mind's at, and after this week I'm going to start focusing on that again." During the 2007 off-season, Palmer had scheduled workouts with not only Chad Johnson (which he usually did), but receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Tab Perry. He also said he was fully comfortable with his knee.

2007 season

In the season opener on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens, Palmer went 20 for 32 with 194 yards and two touchdowns. Palmer and the Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens 27–20. He followed up this performance with 33 completions for 401 passing yards and a franchise record and also a career-high 6 touchdown passes the next week in a game against the Cleveland Browns. But even so, his team lost the game 51–45. Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson also threw for five touchdown passes in the game. It was only the third time in NFL history that two quarterbacks had thrown at least five touchdown passes in the same game. In the loss to the Seattle Seahawks, 21–24, Palmer went 27 for 43 for 342 yards for a touchdown, but also threw two interceptions.

By week 8, Palmer and the Bengals were struggling. His team had only a 2–5 record and he had thrown 9 interceptions, the most by any quarterback in the AFC. However, he remained statistically productive, ranking fourth in the NFL in passing yards and fifth in touchdowns with a passer rating of over 90.

The Bengals' misfortunes continued throughout the season and a week 15 loss to the San Francisco 49ers ensured that the team would finish the season with a losing record for the first time since he had been their starting quarterback. In the same game, Palmer threw his 100th career touchdown pass, becoming the 5th fastest player ever to reach this milestone (59 games). Palmer finished the season with 376 completions for 4,131 yards and 26 touchdowns, with 20 interceptions. His 20 interceptions were a career high, but his 376 completions and 4,131 passing yards set new Bengals franchise records.

2008 season

In the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, Palmer was held to 99 yards and no touchdowns, completing only 10 out of 25 passes with an interception. For the first time in his career Palmer wore a clear protective visor because of a broken nose. In the following 24–7 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Palmer was 16 of 27 for 134 yards and two interceptions. As the Bengals fell to 0–3 against the New York Giants in a 26–23 overtime loss, Palmer went 27 for 39 for 286 yards and a touchdown.

Due to a sore elbow, Palmer missed the next game against the Cleveland Browns, which ended in a loss. This ended Palmer's consecutive start streak of 51 games. Palmer returned the following week against the Dallas Cowboys and completed 23 of 39 of his passes for 217 yards, with two touchdowns, and an interception on the first passing play of the game.

The cause of Palmer's sore elbow was later diagnosed as a partially torn ligament and tendon and he was shelved for the remainder of the season. Palmer elected not to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the damage; instead, he chose to rest the elbow to allow it to heal. By March 2009, Palmer said that he was "100 percent" again.

2009 season

In the season opener, Palmer threw the ball 33 times for 247 yards, 2 interceptions, and no touchdowns in a 12–7 loss against the Denver Broncos. The critics sought another mediocre season for the Bengals, with a lack of offensive production. The offense bounced back in week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Palmer threw for 185 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in a 31–24 win. In week 7 against the Chicago Bears, Palmer was 20 of 24 passing, with 5 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 146.7, in a 45–10 win. This win improved the Bengals' record to 5–2. After a 16–7 win against the Cleveland Browns in week 12, the Bengals swept their division for the first time in franchise history. Going into a week 15 game at San Diego, Bengals' receiver Chris Henry died. Playing with a heavy heart, Carson Palmer threw for 314 yards, with 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, but only to lose on a last second field goal by the Chargers. Palmer had a 91.7 passer rating with 2 touchdowns and only 1 interception in 17-10 week 16 win against the Kansas City Chiefs. This win assured the Bengals' first winning season and division title since 2005. In Palmer's first full playoff game, he struggled. Palmer threw the ball with a 50 percent completion percentage, with 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and a 53.8 passer rating, in a 24–14 loss to the New York Jets. Carson Palmer finished the 2009 season with a 60.5 completion percentage, 3,094 yards passing, 21 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and a passer rating of 83.6. He seemed to have taken a step back from where he was in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

2010 season

In the 2010 NFL Draft, the Bengals drafted 3 more receivers for Carson Palmer: Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham in the first round, Texas wide receiver Jordan Shipley in the third round, and Kansas wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe in the sixth round. During OTA's (Organized Team Activities), Palmer asserted himself as the leader of the team by calling out Chad Ochocinco, saying that the number one receiver should be there with the team.

During the 2010 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, Palmer completed 2 out of 5 passes for 18 yards, both to wide receiver Terrell Owens. Palmer and the Bengals started out the 2010 campaign with a 2-1 record, but would falter after that going on 10-game losing streak to finish out the season at 4-12. Statistically, Carson improved from the previous year as his attempts, completion percentage, yardage and touchdown numbers all rose (although he did throw more interceptions as well).

Following the Bengals' 4–12 finish in the 2010 season on January 23, 2011 Palmer requested to be traded. Bengals president Mike Brown turned down Palmer's request the next day. News reports said that Palmer is prepared to retire if necessary. WCPO-TV reported that a friend of Palmer quoted him as saying, "I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again"; "I have $80 million in the bank," Palmer reportedly said; "I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game, but that would have to be elsewhere." Palmer's agent said, "Because of the lack of success that Carson and the Bengals have experienced together, Carson strongly feels that a separation between him and the Bengals would be in the best interest of both parties." In 7 seasons under Palmer, the Bengals have appeared in the playoffs twice (2005 and 2009), and have not won any playoff games.

During an interview at the 2011 NFL Draft, head coach Marvin Lewis said that Carson Palmer told him he has plans to retire. In response, the Bengals selected TCU quarterback Andy Dalton in the second round. On July 26, 2011 a video posted on NFL.com showed a press conference held by Mike Brown, the president of the Bengals, stating that he did not expect Carson Palmer to return to the Bengals for the 2011-2012 season, the organization wished him well, and that there were no plans to trade him. When asked why he wouldn't trade Carson, Mike Brown answered:

"Carson signed a contract. He made a commitment. He gave his word. We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He's going to walk away from his commitment. We aren't going to reward him for doing it."

Consequently, Palmer was placed on the reserve/did not report list on July 29, 2011, after failing to report to training camp.

Oakland Raiders

2011 season

With Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton having led his team to a conference-best 6-2 record after 9 weeks, the Bengals had little motivation to negotiate for Palmer's return. But on October 18, 2011, after being contacted by the Oakland Raiders who had just lost starting quarterback Jason Campbell for the season and who were desperate to negotiate for Palmer, the Bengals agreed to trade the disgruntled Palmer. Raiders head coach Hue Jackson was previously the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USC and helped recruit Palmer, and was also the Bengals wide receivers coach during the prime of Palmer's career. Jackson's good relationship with both Palmer and the Bengals organization was key to the deal. In exchange for a player that the Bengals did not need and who stated he would never suit up for them again, the Bengals received Oakland's first-round pick in the 2012 draft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2013 draft, which would have become a first-round pick had the Raiders reached the AFC Championship game in 2011. The trade was deemed to be one of the most one-sided trades in recent memory, and would be one of the factors that would result in Jackson being terminated after the season was over. Dalton would go on to lead the Bengals to the playoffs and would be selected to the Pro Bowl, while Jackson was soon re-hired by the Bengals as an assistant coach.

With punter Shane Lechler wearing Palmer's number 9 from Cincinnati, Palmer switched his jersey number to 3, his number at USC which was worn by Jon Kitna in Cincinnati at the time the Bengals drafted him. On October 23, Palmer came off the bench against the Kansas City Chiefs to relieve starting quarterback Kyle Boller who had thrown 3 interceptions and had the team down 21-0. Palmer completed 8 of his 21 for 116 yards and threw 3 interceptions in his Raider debut. He stated after the game, "I was told I was not going to play. I didn't know the offense, I also hadn't been training and working out, so it was a complete shock to me at halftime when (Raiders coach Hue Jackson) told me, 'Hey, you know we're going to get you in, in the third quarter.'" In his first start for the Raiders two weeks later Palmer threw for over 330 yards and had three touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

In his second start as a Raider during the Week 11 Thursday Night game against the division rival San Diego Chargers, Palmer showed further progress as he finished the game completing 14 of 20 passes for 299 yards and threw two touchdowns and a single interception for a quarterback rating of 125.0 in a 24-17 road win that would ultimately give the Raiders the lead in the division. After going 0 for 2, Palmer would complete 10 straight passes including two touchdowns of 33 & 26 yards to rookie wide receiver Denarius Moore. Palmer was on course for a perfect passer rating of 158.3 until he took a hit from Chargers' linebacker Travis LaBoy while attempting a pass early in the Fourth Quarter that resulted in wobbly pass picked-off by Paul Oliver.

The Raiders ended the season 8-8, 4-5 under Palmer. They lost the AFC West tiebreaker to the Denver Broncos and finished one game out of the playoffs.

2012 season

File:Carson Palmer.jpg

Palmer on September 16, 2012 against the Miami Dolphins

In 2012, the Carson Palmer-led Raiders started the season 0-1 after a 22-14 home loss against the San Diego Chargers. Palmer had a good game statistically going 32 of 46 for 297 yards and a touchdown. In week 2, Palmer completed 24 of 48 (50%) of his passes for 373 yards and a touchdown, but also an interception in a 35-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins. The Raiders returned home for a Week 3 matchup against the longtime historic rival of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sitting at 0-2, Palmer drove the Raiders down the field in the final seconds to set up a field goal attempt for the Raiders to win. Palmer went near perfect in his pass attempts completing 24 of 34 for 3 touchdowns and an interception in the 34-31 win. In Week 4 however, Palmer struggled against the Denver Broncos going 19 of 34 for 202 yards in a 37-6 road loss. The Raiders went into their bye week with Palmer's stats standing at 99 of 162 on pass attempts for 1,081 yards with 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Raiders (who had finished 4-5 with Palmer as a starter) had also gone 5-8 with Palmer at the starting quarterback helm by this time. Returning from the bye week, Palmer and the Raiders traveled down south to face the Atlanta Falcons who were undefeated against AFC opponents. The Raiders got off to a good start with Palmer looking very sharp with 23 of 33 for 353 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception as the Falcons completed the comeback drive to win 23-20. Palmer sat at 26 of 46 for 298 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and also a rushing touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars a week later. Palmer stayed sharp through the next game at Kansas City against the Chiefs going 14 of 28 for 209 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception in a 26-16 win. A week later, the Raiders returned home for a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the fact that Palmer had completed 39 of 61 for 414 yards and 4 touchdowns, the struggling quarterback also threw 3 costly interceptions in the 42-32 loss. A week later at Baltimore, Palmer still looked sharp in the 55-20 road loss to the Baltimore Ravens going 29 of 45 for 368 yards 2 touchdowns and an interception. In Week 11, the Raiders returned home for a game against a struggling defensive New Orleans Saints team. However, despite the fact that Palmer and the Raiders' offense struggled, the quarterback went 22 of 40 for 312 yards for 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the huge 38-17 loss. In Week 12, Palmer returned to Cincinnati to face off against his former team the Cincinnati Bengals. Palmer struggled in this game going 19 of 34 for a season-low 146 yards for a touchdown and an interception in a 34-10 loss. In Week 13, the Raiders returned home for a game against the Cleveland Browns. Coming into this game at 1-2 against the AFC North, the Raiders were down by 3, but would end up losing 20-17 to the Browns despite the fact that Palmer was 34 of 54 for 351 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. In Week 14, the Raiders stayed home for a Thursday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos. The Raiders lost 26-13 in spite of Palmer going 19 of 30 for 273 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. This game becoming none other than his 9th straight game with at least 1 interception. In Week 15, the Raiders stayed home for the 3rd straight week for game 2 against the division rival Kansas City Chiefs. In which they would win 15-0 with Palmer's streak of games with at least 1 interception coming to an end, but still struggled as he went 18 of 29 for 182 yards. In Week 16, Palmer and the Raiders traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Carolina Panthers. Palmer early in the game suffered a further injury of his ribs leaving him out for the rest of the game. As he went 3 of 3 for 31 yards in the game, quarterback Matt Leinart took over for the rest of the game. The Raiders however went on to lose 17-6. Out of all 14 games Palmer has started and completed, the Raiders went 4-11 under him bringing his total to 8-15 as the teams' starting quarterback.

Arizona Cardinals

Palmer was officially traded to the Arizona Cardinals on April 2, 2013 for a 2013 NFL Draft sixth round draft pick and for a conditional pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. One of his biggest claims yet is that the Cardinals offense is the most complicated he has ever had to run in his career. His coach was Bruce Arians, the former Colts interim coach. While having a rusty 3-4 start, Palmer led the Cardinals to a 10-6 record his first year but was eliminated from playoff contention in week 17. Palmer ranked 8th in the NFL in passing yards with 4274 yards, the most of his career. He also became the first player in NFL history to top 4,000 yards passing for three different teams. During week 11, he was nominated for FedEx Air Player of the Week with 419 and 2 TD's. This win over the Jaguars ended Carson Palmer's interception streak through the first 9 games of his season (not including the bye week). During week 14, Palmer hit a career high with an 84.4 completion percentage when he went 27 for 32 with 269 yards and a TD in a win over the Rams. During Week 16, while he threw 4 interceptions, two to the talkative Richard Sherman, he was able to rally the Cardinals to a 17-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, who had had a perfect home record for the last two years.

Statistics

Regular season

Year	Team	G	GS	Passing								Rushing				Sacked		Fumbles
				Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	Y/A	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL	Fum	FumL
2003	CIN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004	CIN	13	13	432	263	60.8	2,897	6.7	18	18	77.3	18	47	2.6	1	25	178	2	2
2005	CIN	16	16	509	345	67.8	3,836	7.5	32	12	101.1	34	41	1.2	1	19	105	5	2
2006	CIN	16	16	520	324	62.3	4,035	7.8	28	13	93.9	26	37	1.4	0	36	233	15	7
2007	CIN	16	16	575	373	64.9	4,131	7.2	26	20	86.7	24	10	0.4	0	17	119	5	1
2008	CIN	4	4	129	75	58.1	731	5.7	3	4	69.0	6	38	6.3	0	11	67	2	0
2009	CIN	16	16	466	282	60.5	3,094	6.6	21	13	83.6	39	93	2.4	3	26	213	6	2
2010	CIN	16	16	586	362	61.8	3,970	6.8	26	20	82.4	32	50	1.6	0	26	201	7	3
2011	OAK	10	9	328	199	60.7	2,753	8.4	13	16	80.5	16	20	1.3	1	17	119	2	1
2012	OAK	15	15	565	345	61.1	4,018	7.1	22	14	85.3	18	36	2	1	26	199	7	5
2013	ARI	16	16	572	362	63.3	4,274	7.5	24	22	83.9	27	3	0.1	0	41	289	6	3
Total		123	122	4,682	2,930	62.6	33,739	7.2	213	152	85.9	240	375	1.6	7	244	1,723	57	26

Playoffs

Year	Team	G	GS	Passing								Rushing
				Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	Y/A	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
2005	CIN	1	1	1	1	100.0	66	66.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	CIN	1	1	36	18	50.0	146	4.06	1	1	58.33	1	2	2.00	0
Total		2	2	37	19	51.4	212	5.73	1	1	66.5	1	2	2.00	0

Bengals franchise records

• Most Completions, Season – 373 (2007)
• Most Pass Attempts, Season - 586 (2010) (tied with Andy Dalton)
• Highest Completion Percentage, Career (Min. 200 attempts) – 62.9%
• Only Bengals QB to pass for 4000 yards in a season (twice; 2006–2007)
• Most 400+ Yard Passing Games, Career – 3
• Most 300+ Yard Passing Games, Season – 5 (2007; tied w/Boomer Esiason, 1987; and Andy Dalton, 2013)
• Most Touchdown Passes, Game – 6 (9/16/2007 at Cleveland Browns)
• Highest Passer Rating, Career (Min. 500 attempts) – 86.9
• Highest Passer Rating, Season (Min. 14 attempts/team game played) – 101.1 (2005)
• Most Consecutive Games w/Passer Rating over 100 – 9
• Most Game Winning Drives, Season - 5 (tied with Jeff Blake)

Personal life

On July 5, 2003, Palmer wed a former USC soccer player, Shaelynn, whom he met during freshman orientation. In the off-season, they reside in San Diego, California. His brother, Jordan Palmer, was his best man at his wedding. His wife gave birth to twins on January 20, 2009, one boy Fletch and a girl Elle.

He is a devout Christian, "I've been a Christian as long as I can remember. I've always been in church with my family through high school and college."

In 2008, Nike released 3 Air Max 90s, one of which was designed in the Nike ID studios by Palmer. The shoe's colorway bears a strong resemblance to the famous Air Max 90 Infrareds.

Palmer is a contributor to Delta Air Lines' "Under the Wing" blog. Delta maintains a hub at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Palmer was the best man at NFL quarterback Matt Cassel's wedding. Cassel was Palmer's backup QB at USC.

Palmer appeared as himself on The Replacements in many episodes. His first appearance was "Ball Hogs".

See also

• List of NFL quarterbacks who have passed for 400 or more yards in a game
• List of Division I FBS passing yardage leaders

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com • ESPN • CBS Sports • Yahoo! Sports • SI.com • Pro-Football-Reference • Rotoworld
• Arizona Cardinals bio
• Oakland Raiders bio
• USC Trojans bio
• Carson Palmer at the Heisman Trophy website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Derrick Brooks (2005)	Pro Bowl MVP 2006	Succeeded by Adrian Peterson (2007)
Records
Preceded by Ken Anderson [1981] (29)	Record for Cincinnati Bengals Passing Touchdowns in a Single Season [2005], (32)	Succeeded by Andy Dalton [2013], (33)

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