I'm fairly certain that if Bengals fans could go a week without news on Carson Palmer, we might be content just to live our normal lives. Unless that update, of course, regards a resolution. Such as a trade (not likely). Such as being released (no chance). Such as retiring. Such as Palmer coming back to Cincinnati, shaking hands with the team's offensive coordinator and getting to work.
It'll be some time before we read the climax to this story. In the meantime, Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, a lockerroom leader type of guy and the team's NFLPA representative, spoke out on Palmer.
During an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Whitworth was asked about Palmer demanding a trade.
It’s one of those things where I have my own selfish motives and I’d love to have him back but that’s one of those decisions where Carson wouldn’t speak out unless it was something he was serious about. He’s not the kind of guy to bring this up and just throw it out there as a bargaining tool. He’s serious.
While it appears that Whitworth and Palmer are good friends, the offensive lineman says "if he doesn’t want to be here you don’t want a guy that doesn’t want to be here."
The interview turned interestingly towards the fans, with Whitworth conjecturing that one of the reasons for Palmer's demand for an exit was the fans (or as he says, not really fans):
Then it didn’t help that there were – and you say Cincinnati fans but the people who do stuff like they did to him aren’t real fans. You’ve got your real fans that will love and support you no matter what but having stuff thrown in his yard and stuff like that, just stuff that is uncalled for. There is stuff like that I’m sure hurt him and put him in a place where he’s not just hurt but worried about his family and people coming to his house. You worry about all that for him but in the end I can feel his frustrations so I wasn’t exactly surprised but I was concerned.
We have to agree that the whole fan-throw-trash on Palmer's lawn is in itself trash from people that embarrasses the core of Bengals fans as a whole (who's to say that it wasn't Steelers fans?)
It's hard to fault Palmer for fearing for his family when idiotic fans make us look that way. It's also somewhat insulting that if Palmer is using Bengals fans as a point to leave Cincinnati, then Palmer is equally insulting the core of Bengals fans as those that would do that to him. There's clowns in every city -- we're no different.