Count Carson Palmer as yet another former USC Football star who is frustrated with the state of the program.
Palmer spoke with the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer for a feature on what the former Heisman Trophy winner is up to now — it’s a must-read for anyone interested in Palmer. In the article, Palmer, who now lives in Idaho, expressed his frustration with USC’s football team.
“It’s hard to engage when you’re very prideful about something,” Palmer told Farmer. “It’s frustrating, like anybody with their alma mater, when you just disagree with some of the things that are going on. You know how good it can be, and how easy — not that it’s easy — but, man, we should be a top-five recruiting class every year. How are we not?”
The frustration is understandable and a common gripe among former Trojans and the team’s fans. A couple of other former athletes ripped the team over its poor recruiting class ranking.
Palmer was at USC from 1998-2002. His final two seasons were under Pete Carroll, including a dynamite senior season in which he passed for 3,942 yards, 33 touchdowns, won the Heisman Trophy, became the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, and led an Orange Bowl win. USC went 11-2 that season — the second under Pete Carroll — and went on a dominant run after that.
All the players who were part of that dominance do not want to settle for the 8-6, 8-5 and 5-7 seasons we’ve seen over the last five seasons, which is why there is so much frustration with Clay Helton.
USC fans, show everyone who runs LA with this great T-shirt:
