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 fifth USC Trojan to win the award with running backs Mike Garrett (1965), O.J. Simpson (1968), Charles White (1979), Marcus Allen (1981) preceding him. Palmer later led the Trojans to an impressive 38-17 win over Iowa in the 2002 Orange Bowl. Palmer's major at USC was public policy and management.

Palmer's rookie season of 2003 saw him on the sidelines, watching starting quarterback Jon Kitna, who took every snap, and learning from Kitna, head coach Marvin Lewis, and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese during games and practices. Kitna was Palmer's mentor, a role Kitna accepted gracefully, knowing that in 2004, Palmer would be the Bengals' backup quarterback. The Bengals went 8-8.

Before the Bengals' 2004 training camp, Carson Palmer was named the starting quarterback. While he suffered from growing pains, he led the Bengals to another respectable 8-8 record, passing for 2,897 yards and 18 touchdowns, with 18 interceptions, in 13 games.

Off the field, Carson Palmer and Jon Kitna are good friends and golfing buddies.

In 2005, Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati Bengals had their best start since 1988, winning their first 4 games, before losing their fifth game to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

--Wikipedia