Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. Palmer played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2002. He was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2003 NFL draft.
Palmer had a breakout season in 2005 when he led the league in passing touchdowns and completion percentage while bringing the Bengals to their first winning season and playoff appearance in 15 years. He also earned Pro Bowl honors. Palmer received a second consecutive Pro Bowl selection the following year, but was unable to continue his success and made only one more playoff appearance with Cincinnati. Amid conflicts with Bengals ownership, he was traded after eight seasons to the Oakland Raiders, where he continued to struggle during his two seasons with the team.
Traded to the Arizona Cardinals in 2013, Palmer revitalized his career. He had his most successful season 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 inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
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.
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. 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.
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. The next week against San Diego State he completed 16/24 passes for 188 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. On September 25, Palmer started the game against Oregon, throwing 9 completions for 135 yards. Before halftime, he broke his collarbone while scrambling for a 3-yard gain. This injury effectively ended his season. In only three games he had 39/53 completions (73.6%), 490 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and a single rushing touchdown. The NCAA let him use his redshirt, although he had already played in 3 games.
After being sidelined for the last 11 months, Palmer returned to his starting role in 2000. He made his return in week 1 against #22 Penn State, going for 10/20 completions for 87 yards and an interception. The following game, Palmer led the Trojans 72-yards down the field with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter. This set up the game-winning field goal against Colorado, putting USC up 17–14. He threw for 25/30(83.3%), 275 passing yards, and a touchdown. The very next week he led another comeback win against San Jose State, bringing USC back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Palmer ended the game with 22/38 completions, a career-high 338 passing yards, and 2 touchdowns. After 5 consecutive losses, he started in week 10 against Arizona State and end the game with 22 of 37 completions, for 279 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in the double overtime victory. Palmer started the first half the next game against the Washington and was benched the second half for Mike Van Raaphorst, after going 12 of 26 for 145 yards and an interception. After being benched, he returned against rival UCLA the next game, and had a career-high 350 yards, and 4 touchdowns while throwing 26/37 completions. His performance against the Bruins won him PAC-10 Offensive Player of the Week and USC's Game MVP. In the regular season finale, against Notre Dame, he completed 17 of 35 passes for 251 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and lead USC with 22-yards rushing and 1 rushing touchdown. USC finished the season with a 5–7 record and Palmer finished with 228 completions, 414 attempts(54.9%) 2914 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions.
Following a 6–6 record in 1999 and a 5–7 record in 2000, Paul Hackett stepped down as head coach. 2001 marked Pete Carroll's first season with USC and under a new revamped offense, Palmer threw 21/28 completions, 213 passing yards, and an interception in the season opener against San Jose State. During a week 4 loss at Oregon, he threw 25/40 completions, for a career-high 411 yards, 3 interceptions, and a career-high 75-yard touchdown pass and a 93-yard touchdown pass. After four consecutive losses, where he threw a total of 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, USC finally received a win against Arizona State with Palmer going 18/26 for 295 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. The next week at Notre Dame, although being sacked 5 times, he finished with 19 of 30 completions, 230 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Palmer defeated Oregon State in week 10, after going 21 of 28, for 171 passing yards, and an interception. The game came down to overtime, where Palmer bootlegged for a 4-yard scramble, broke one tackle, and dove at the pylon for the game-winning touchdown. After 4 wins in-a-row, USC lost to Utah, and Palmer finished the game with 15 of 26 completions for 150 yards. Although his first season under new head coach Pete Carroll ended with a 6–6 record, he finished his season with 221 completions, 377 attempts(58.6%), 2,717 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 12 starts.