Carson Palmer
Palmer 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. 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.
Palmer attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School, where he passed for 31 touchdowns and just four interceptions as a senior. By the time he left high school, he had set 27 school records. He was also an excellent basketball player, and was named to the Student Sports Grid-Hoops All-America second team after averaging ten points and eight rebounds per game.
Carson Palmer arrived at the University of Southern California in 1998 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 to ever start at quarterback for the USC Trojans.
Palmer had a breakout senior year under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who was brought in the year before by head coach Pete Carroll after spending 27 seasons at Brigham Young University and one season at North Carolina State University. Chow was able to bring the best out of Carson Palmer and the USC offense, which led to Palmer being named the Heisman Trophy Award winner, then the fifth Trojan to win the prestigious award ? running backs Mike Garrett (1965), O.J. Simpson (1968), Charles White (1979), and Marcus Allen (1981) preceded him. Palmer was the first and only Trojan quarterback to be honored with the award until lefty Matt Leinart won it as a junior in 2004.
Palmer completed 309 passes for 3,942 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. Palmer left college as the Pac-10 Conferences' 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 ? Matt Leinart has since surpassed the record, which currently stands at 99.
Palmer has guided the Bengals ot the playoffs several times and is considered one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.