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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer isn’t showing stripes about Cincinnati Bengals exit

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http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/20130822arizona-cardinals-quarterback-carson-palmer-isnt-showing-stripes-about-cincinnati-bengals-exit.html

 

If you have a secret, tell it to Carson Palmer. The Cardinals quarterback knows all about keeping them and not saying a word.

 

Asked to explain why he wanted out of Cincinnati so badly two years ago after spending eight seasons with the Bengals, Palmer may as well have pasted Super Glue across his lips. He still isn’t talking about it.

 

He wouldn’t do it the past two seasons, which he spent with the Raiders. And he isn’t talking about it now, either.

 

“There’s going to be a time and place for me to speak my piece on that,” Palmer told azcentral sports. “Now is not the time, but there definitely will be a time when I’ll talk.

 

“I’m a part of this team and this organization now, and my focus is this next game and the upcoming season. I’m going to talk about it, but it’s just not the right time. I know how it will be taken and perceived.”

 

All Palmer would add is that there were many mistruths surrounding his end of days with the Bengals and about how he “threatened” to retire if the team didn’t trade him.

 

They ultimately did just that, but Palmer has never come out and said exactly why he needed to be free from wearing the Bengals’ orange and black stripes.

 

Maybe there were just too many fights with stodgy owner Mike Brown about the lack of a decent supporting cast around him. Maybe it was the Bengals’ penchant for bumbling things in the draft or that unprecedented and embarrassing run where their players seemed to be getting arrested every other week.

 

It could have been that he grew tired of coach Marvin Lewis and couldn’t understand how Lewis was signed to a contract extension following a miserable 4-12 season in 2010. Maybe he just got fed up with the antics of wide receivers Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens, although he recently said they were good teammates.

 

There was even a rumor that his wife, Shaelyn, wanted out of Cincinnati because she was mad that fans dumped garbage on the Palmers’ front lawn after a particularly bad loss.

 

Whatever it was, there were enough hard knocks to make Palmer turn his back on $50 million — the salary he was guaranteed over the next four years.

 

His holdout became ugly, with fans and even some players and NFL analysts branding him as a quitter and just another spoiled, rich crybaby from USC.

 

Not true, said Cardinals defensive end Frostee Rucker, who spent five seasons with Palmer in Cincinnati and one year with him at USC.

 

“Sometimes, it’s not so much quitting on your team, it’s having to put your foot down, and that’s a hard thing to do in professional sports,” Rucker said. “I know how competitive he is and how hard he works at his craft.

 

“He had his differences with whoever it may be, but I never felt like he quit on me or nothing. At some point, as a man, you have to put your foot down for what you stand for, and I felt like that’s what he did.”

 

Palmer, 33, said he has nothing against the city of Cincinnati whatsoever.

 

“I loved living there,” he said. “I loved hunting there. I loved fishing there. I still have property there that I can’t wait to go back to.”

 

So what stewed his tomatoes? If Rucker knows, he isn’t saying, although he makes it sound like Palmer was beefed about promises to upgrade the roster that were never kept.

 

“You’re the first overall pick and you’re the head of the franchise and what you’re asking for from ownership — or whoever it may be — wasn’t supplying him with what he needed,” Rucker said. “He had his issues for a while, and they weren’t being addressed.”

 

If anyone still thinks Palmer was being selfish and just wanted to take his ball and go home, they’re wrong, Rucker said. If anything, Palmer may have stuck it out too long.

 

“Look, he had a number of years where he was taking a beating in there, and he played every game,” Rucker said. “He came in early and was the first one in, the last one out. And he stood there while a lot of people would have folded. A lot of people didn’t see that, either.

 

“But he still went out there and played every game, tried his best. That’s what I saw behind the scenes every day because I was with him every day. A lot of people would have tucked and folded; he didn’t. He finally had enough and he stood up for what he stood up for.”

 

Palmer, for now, is thinking only about Saturday night’s preseason game against the visiting Chargers and an increased amount of playing time.

 

“Knowing we’re going to get the whole first half, it’s just nice to know you can let the run game develop and let things happen in the passing game as opposed to trying to make a big play every chance you have,” he said.  “I think guys are excited to get some reps.”

 

And that little secret he’s been keeping about the Bengals?

 

“Like I said, there’s definitely going to be a time where I’m going to talk about it,” Palmer said. “It’s just not the right time.”

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whodey365 Super Bowl Champ

whodey365

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Carson Palmer:
Sun 11/25/12 OAK at CIN - L 34-10
19-34-146 1/1
55.9 PCT
4.29 YPA
64.1 RATE
1 Fum (1 Lost)
4 Sacks / 27 Yds
 
146 yards: 2nd fewest in 2012
4.29 YPA: Season Worst
64.1 RATE: Season Worst
4 Sacks: Season Worst
 
Yeah, baby!

I was there. So damn awesome.
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scharm Hall Of Fame

scharm

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Eh,  I calls BS.   As far as the "tools" he needs or needed.   Many levels of BS.

 

He had weapons before as a young QB.   Did the Bengals just forget about that?   Andy Dalton has weapons now.   Did the Bengals just figure it out or did they get mad at Carson?

 

They were competitive in TJ negotiations and after losing him they signed Coles, Bryant, and TO.  Still had Simpson from the 2nd round.   They drafted a TE that has been to two pro bowls.

 

And because of his failures during the 2010 season the Bengals drafted AJ Green who Carson could be throwing to today.

 

Not to mention franchising Stacy Andrews and then drafting Andre Smith.    Smith got off to a slow start but was replaced by two guys that are still on the roster today with many snaps played apart of playoff units.   Cook and Whitworth are still main cogs today.   Both of which have had independent writers claim they are pro bowl worthy and underrrated.

 

He folded under the pressure of not getting it done in the 2010 season.   Plain and simple.   People will try to rewrite history about his horrible o-line, not true.   His horrible skill guys, not true.       The guy didn't get it done and didn't have the balls to take a chance to redeem himself in a rebuilding effort. 

 

He could be in the spot Andy has today.   That spot is good. 

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cincity Hall Of Fame

cincity

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Eh,  I calls BS.   As far as the "tools" he needs or needed.   Many levels of BS.

 

He had weapons before as a young QB.   Did the Bengals just forget about that?   Andy Dalton has weapons now.   Did the Bengals just figure it out or did they get mad at Carson?

 

They were competitive in TJ negotiations and after losing him they signed Coles, Bryant, and TO.  Still had Simpson from the 2nd round.   They drafted a TE that has been to two pro bowls.

 

And because of his failures during the 2010 season the Bengals drafted AJ Green who Carson could be throwing to today.

 

Not to mention franchising Stacy Andrews and then drafting Andre Smith.    Smith got off to a slow start but was replaced by two guys that are still on the roster today with many snaps played apart of playoff units.   Cook and Whitworth are still main cogs today.   Both of which have had independent writers claim they are pro bowl worthy and underrrated.

 

He folded under the pressure of not getting it done in the 2010 season.   Plain and simple.   People will try to rewrite history about his horrible o-line, not true.   His horrible skill guys, not true.       The guy didn't get it done and didn't have the balls to take a chance to redeem himself in a rebuilding effort. 

 

He could be in the spot Andy has today.   That spot is good. 

 

I think the Bengals still would have drafted Green, so he would have had Green AND Gresh, he would have still had weapons if he stayed.

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sois Hall Of Fame

sois

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A buddy of mine had the Rams' defense in FF on Sunday.  CP threw what looked to become a pick 6 but the guy who intercepted the ball was tackled in the red zone.  The pick 6 would have made my buddy happy but it was just another case of CP letting someone down. 

 

No worse than Dalton's almost pick six on the second throw of the Bears game.  

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