Carson Palmer, man with multiple knee surgeries, forgot his brace

Carson Palmer, a man who has undergone multiple knee surgeries, forgot his knee brace in Arizona before traveling to Detroit.

Carson Palmer, a man who has undergone multiple knee surgeries, forgot his knee brace in Arizona before traveling to Detroit.

He then played a football game without it on.

Palmer, 35, told the team’s official website that he simply forgot to pack the device he wears to guard the ACL he has torn twice and which has threatened his career prospects and mobility in the pocket for nearly a decade.

“I always forget something packing,” Palmer said. “But the knee brace — that’s a big one. It’s not like forgetting your belt. Or your toothbrush.”

A dentist might argue differently.

“The problem with those knee braces is you can’t just replace them,” he added. “It’s not like there is an extra one lying around.”

Yes. If there's one thing a lucrative pro sports franchise and its multimillionaire players cannot replace, it's the thing that protects their most important player’s most fragile part.

He has since been shipped a backup brace that was sitting in his locker, all the way across the country, for Arizona’s next game, against the Steelers on Sunday.

We assume he will wear this one.

- Jeremy Woo