Expectations weigh on celebrity golfer Carson Palmer to carry group

1:09 AM ET

TEMPE, Ariz. — The life of a professional football player can be stressful.

Picture this: Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer shows up to a beautifully manicured golf course — one of the hundreds in the Phoenix area — dressed in his finest golf attire, mentally prepared for a fun, laidback round of golf at one of his teammate’s charity tournaments. Then it happens.

Palmer’s group of civilian golfers, who paid good money to golf with a professional football player, turns to him on the tee box and utters the words Palmer dreads hearing.

“They’re all saying, ‘We never play golf and we expect you to carry this thing for us,’” Palmer said. “We’re all kind of looking at these guys like, ‘I was thinking that. That’s what I came here for.’”

Talk about expectations.

“It’s pretty stressful when you play as the celerity in the group and they expect you to kind of carry the group and you can’t quite carry them. So, that part of it is very stressful,” Palmer said.

Such is life as a pro football player on the offseason charity golf tournament circuit.

This offseason, in addition to the Cardinals’ own tournament, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, cornerback Patrick Peterson, defensive tackle Calais Campbell and coach Bruce Arians hosted their own events. That’s four free rounds of golf for …

continue reading in source espn.go.com