Carson Palmer

Carson Palmer (born December 27, 1979 in Fresno, California) is an American football quarterback who plays for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. He went to the University of Southern California where he won the Heisman Trophy in 2002. He was drafted by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Early years

For his high school career, Carson attended Rancho Santa Margarita Catholic High School, where he passed for 31 touchdowns,and just 4 interceptions as a senior. Before leaving high school, he set 27 school records. He was also an excellent basketball player, and was named to the 1998 Student Sports Grid-Hoops All-America second team after averaging eight points, and eight rebounds per game. He came to USC in 1998 and immediately competed for the starting quarterback position with Mike Van Raaphorst. In his ninth game as a true freshman, he became one of only two freshmen to ever start at quarterback for the Trojans. After an inconsistent first three years at USC, Palmer had a breakout senior year under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who was brought in by head coach Pete Carroll after spending 27 seasons at Brigham Young and one season at North Carolina State. Chow was able to bring the best out of Palmer and the USC offense, which led to Palmer being named the Heisman Trophy winner, the-then fourth USC Trojan to win the award; running backs O.J. Simpson (1968), Charles White (1979), Marcus Allen (1981) preceded him, and quarterback Matt Leinart won it in 2004. Palmer later led the Trojans to an impressive 38-17 win over Iowa in the 2002 Orange Bowl.

Related Topics:
Touchdowns - Interceptions - 1998 - Rebounds - Freshman - Norm Chow - Pete Carroll - Brigham Young - North Carolina State - Heisman Trophy - O.J. Simpson - Charles White - Marcus Allen - Matt Leinart - Iowa - 2002 - Orange Bowl

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