This is not to say Palmer hasn't been a good player since He was quickly healed and played in all 16 games in his sophomore year (no straightforward task; look up Robert Griffin III) and Madden 23 coins even made the Pro Bowl. But it was the Palmer of 2005 -- who was the leader of his team in Madden NFL 23 with 32 touchdown passes and a 67.8 completion percentage while throwing 12 interceptions in the second year he was an NFL starter -- never reappeared. His accuracy dipped, the Bengals organization's issues resurfaced as did his elbow injuries, probably the consequence of throwing on his knee that was surgically repaired.

His tenure in Cincinnati came to an end when the Bengals recorded a 4-12 record during the 2010 season. Palmer was eighth with the team. Palmer declared that he'd rather retire at the age of 31 than to play for the Bengals once more: "I have $80 million in my savings. I don't need to play football for money. I'll play it just for the joy of the game , but that passion isn't the only reason. I'm willing to live my life to the fullest." Take a moment to think about it for a second: Palmer, the first overall selection of the 2003 Madden NFL 23 Draft, younger in comparison to both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and was determined to never play again in football at around 31. That's how much playing for the Bengals does to his body.

Bengals owners Mike Brown, who created his unending failure machine using money and nepotism, refused to take draft picks for free from a quarterback-starved league. "Carson signed the contract. He made a commitment. He made his promise," Brown said. "We believed in his words. We believed in his dedication. We expected him to perform in this regard. He's going to walk away from his commitment. We're not going reward him for doing what he did."

Brown finally broke through halfway into the 2011 seasonand sent Palmer to Oakland for a first-round pick and Madden 23 ltds for sale a conditional second-rounder. one of many reasons the Raiders have remained far less successful than the Bengals during the last two years.