While Carson Palmer was a solid quarterback during his peak years in the early to mid-2000s, the amount of money teams have shelled out to him was not worth the performance he put up throughout his fifteen season NFL career. In the seventh grade, Palmer was getting attention for his size and arm strength later he would commit to the University of Southern California. Palmer would play for the Trojans from 1998-2002 and win the Heisman Trophy and lead his team to a 2003 Orange Bowl victory over Iowa. Palmer would put up career numbers including 11,818 passing yards and 72 touchdowns with a passer percentage rate of 59.1%.
After an impressive collegiate career at USC, Palmer was drafted 1st overall in the 2003 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals were he would play his best football in his professional career. Palmer led the Bengals to their first playoff appearance in fifteen years in 2005 and also led the team to the postseason an additional time in 2009. In 2005, Palmer signed a six-year, $97 million contract extension with the Bengals but ended up receiving only $84 million from the Ohio-based franchise. Carson also received $15 million for two years of service with the Oakland Raiders and $73 million for five years of service with the Arizona Cardinals. Palmer retired after the 2017 NFL season and left with his pocket lined with more than $174 million.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.