Football

Cardinals QB Carson Palmer retires from NFL after 15-year career

By Jason Romano Jan 2, 2018
Phoenix, AZ - September 25, 2017 - University of Phoenix Stadium: Carson Palmer (3) of the Arizona Cardinals during a regular season Monday Night Football game (Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)

Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer announced his retirement from the NFL today in a letter tweeted out by the Cardinals twitter feed.

“Over the years, I’ve had teammates who decided to hang it up and I’d ask them how they knew when it was time to walk away,” Palmer wrote. “The answer was almost always the same: You just know. For me, that time is now. Why? Quite simply, I just know.”

Palmer was selected first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals after having a successful career in college at USC.

After not playing a snap his rookie year, he took over the starting QB reigns in 2004 and remained a starting quarterback for the rest of his 15-year career.

Former USC quarterback Matt Barkley tweeted his congrats to Palmer on retirement.

Palmer’s faith in Christ is strong and he told Sports Spectrum in 2010 that his faith began when he was a child, but it was when he made the decision for himself that things began to change.

“I grew up in the church. Once I started having a personal relationship with Christ, it became easy from there. Here I am today married with kids, 10 month old twins and trying to raise them to love God and really haven’t looked back since.”

Palmer talked about prayer and how he goes about praying before each game.

“As a team, we pray before every game. Somebody picks a verse. Different guys come up with different verses depending on the mood.”

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH MORE ON CARSON’S FAITH

Carson played 7 seasons with the Bengals, 2 with the Raiders and then finished out his final 5 seasons with the Cardinals.

His best season came in 2015, when Palmer threw for a career-best 4,671 yards and 35 touchdown passes in leading Arizona to a 13-3 season and the NFC Championship game.

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson tweeted his best wishes to Palmer on his retirement.

Palmer’s season ended with a arm injury in an October loss to the Rams in London, England as the Cardinals finished 8-8 in 2017.

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