Carson Palmer

About Carson Palmer

Carson H. Palmer (born December 27, 1979 in Fresno, California), is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. The Cincinnati Bengals have been in the playoffs only one time in recent memory, the 2005 season, where their hopes were crushed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in a defeat that left the Bengals shocked and Palmer in the emergency room. He attended the University of Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy Award in 2002 in his senior season. He was drafted by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft and signed a 9-year, $118.75 million contract extension on December 29, 2005. Palmer was the first Heisman Trophy winner since Vinny Testaverde in 1987 to be selected with the first pick of the NFL draft.

Carson Palmer's younger brother, Jordan Palmer, was a quarterback at the University of Texas-El Paso, and was drafted in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. His brother was signed to the Bengals after the Redskins cut him from the team on January 30, 2008.

In his earlier years, Palmer attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, California. As well as football, Palmer was an avid basketball player, and was named to the Student Sports Grid-Hoops All-America second team.