Carson Palmer

Carson Palmer

Palmer with the Arizona Cardinals in 2015
No. 3 Arizona Cardinals
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1979-12-27) December 27, 1979 (age 37)
Place of birth:	Fresno, California
Height:	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school:	Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Santa Margarita Catholic
College:	USC
NFL Draft:	2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
Career history
Cincinnati Bengals (2003–2010) Oakland Raiders (2011–2012) Arizona Cardinals (2013–present)
Career highlights and awards
3× Pro Bowl (2005, 2006, 2015) Second-team All-Pro (2015) NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2015) AFC Player of the Year (2005) NFL passing touchdowns leader (2005) Heisman Trophy (2002) Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (2002) Sporting News Player of the Year (2002) Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year (2002) Consensus All-American (2002) First-team All-Pac-10 (2002) USC Trojans No. 3 retired
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2016
Passing attempts: 6,040 Passing completions: 3,777 Percentage: 62.5 TD–Int: 285–180 Passing yards: 44,269 Passer rating: 88.0 Player 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 at USC and won the Heisman Trophy in 2002. The Cincinnati Bengals, for whom he played eight seasons, chose him with the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. Palmer also played for the Oakland Raiders for two seasons.

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. As the quarterback on the freshman team, Palmer was so good that members of the varsity team would halt practices to watch him play. After a successful stint as a starter his junior year, Palmer started to field offers from USC, Notre Dame, Colorado, Miami (Florida) and reportedly San Diego State. 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.