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The Arizona Cardinals have received a plethora of support and recognition for their success this past season. It's been rather notable. Whether it's the Cardinals being a media favorite to win the NFC West, or a team many expect to contend for a Super Bowl title, it's been hard to miss. That recognition continued once again when one Cardinal made ESPN's list of the Top 100 players in the World.
I'll give you a moment to guess who it was...
Larry Fitzgerald? Nope.
Patrick Peterson? Try Again.
Oh that's right, Tyrann Mathieu! Still wrong.
That individual was none other than the man who has posted a 29-9 record in his three years in the Desert, Carson Palmer. That's a shocker right? ESPN notated their methodology as going through Forbes list of the top 100 paid players, doing a check on Google Trends, endorsements, their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers, and several other methods. You can read their whole reasoning here.
So where did Carson Palmer rank? He actually just cracked the list, being labeled the 99th most notable player around the world. Palmer made the list with a salary/winnings of 11 million, an endorsement number of one million, and a Facebook likes and Twitter followers of 70k and 15k respectively.
He was actually the 16th NFL player to make the list, behind names like Cam Newton, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Marshawn Lynch. You can read the whole list here.
The top three on the list are pretty much guys you hear about everyday, or at least you should know about. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebron James, and Lionel Messi. (Woo Soccer!)
It comes as a bit of surprise to myself that Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson are not mentioned, but instead Carson Palmer, a guy who has been in the league since 2003, and was known for his mediocrity for quite some time.
What do you think? Does it come as a shocker to you?