Carson Palmer (born December 27, 1979 in Fresno, California), is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. 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.
Palmer married Shaelyn Fernandes, a former USC soccer player whom he met during freshman orientation, on July 5, 2003. In the off-season, they reside in Laguna Beach, California.
He is the brother of fellow Bengal Jordan Palmer. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no brothers have played quarterback for the same team during the Super Bowl era. (Koy Detmer was on injured reserve for Philadelphia while his brother, Ty, played for the Eagles in 1997.)
In 2008, Nike released 3 Air Max 90s, one of which was designed in the Nike ID studios by Palmer. The shoe's colorway bears a strong resemblance to the famous Air Max 90 Infrareds.
