Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Palmer not a Hall of Famer

A number of opinions out there on former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

With the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction taking place this weekend, the topic of former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer being going into the Hall of Fame or not came up.  Is he a Hall of Famer?

To many, the answer is a cut and dry ‘no’.  While Palmer did many great things for the Cardinals in his five seasons in the desert, he never won a Super Bowl.

Many people look at that as the tipping point as to whether one gets into the Hall or not.  Others look strictly at statistics.

I think the whole package needs to be looked at.  He did take the Cardinals to one NFC Championship game.  However, his performance in that game was one of his worst overall as a Cardinals quarterback.

Certainly there was his MVP debate in that 2015 season, one that saw the Cardinals go 13-3 in the regular season.  He got the Cardinals to records of 10-6 in 2013, went 6-0 in his abbreviated starts in 2014 before tearing his ACL in November.

There was the 7-8-1 season in 2016 and then the slow start to the 2017 season before he again was lost for the season in mid-October.  Overall looking at that and most would say no to the HOF.

He threw for 46,247-yards in his career.  He also threw 294 touchdowns and 187 interceptions in a total of 182 games.  So he did average more than one interception per game.

Meanwhile, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who most consider a first ballot candidate, has thrown just 160 interceptions in 253 games.  He’s also thrown for 66,159-yards in the regular season to go along with 488 touchdowns.  Plus we know about the championships he has won.

Once they are in the HOF though, they are both there, no gold stars or asterisks next to the names.  So clearly they are on different levels.

That doesn’t mean Palmer shouldn’t receive consideration.  I loved what he did for the Cardinals.  However a look at his career overall would say he isn’t and shouldn’t be headed to Canton.