Chris Palmer '96 wasn't even sure he was going to play college football prior to arriving at Saint John's University in the fall of 1992.
And he certainly wasn't expecting to make much of an impact if he did.
"I came from a pretty small town," recalls Palmer, a Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop High School graduate. "I didn't know what it took to play at the college level, or if I was even good enough to do it.
"I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to go out. But eventually, I decided I'd regret it if I didn't at least give it a shot."
That regret would have been shared by everyone associated with the Johnnies program. For Palmer went on to become one of the greatest wide receivers in school history, starting three seasons and earning All-American honors as a junior and senior.
During his senior season in 1995, he finished with 71 catches for 1,197 yards and 13 touchdowns – becoming the first SJU player to receive the Gagliardi Trophy honoring the most outstanding player each year at the NCAA Division III level.
The award was named after Palmer's head coach, the legendary John Gagliardi, and was in just its third season of existence.
"The only thing I'm mad about is that he's not twins or triplets," quipped Gagliardi when word of Palmer's honor was announced. "That's the only thing I have against him."
As it was, Palmer generated enough production for multiple receivers on his own. He finished his career with 165 catches for 3,162 yards and 36 touchdowns. All were school records at the time and still rank fourth, second and third respectively in program history.
He had 15 career games with 100 yards receiving or more, which also stood as a program mark until Blake Elliott '03 recorded 22.
During Palmer's three seasons as a starter (1993-95), SJU went 31-4, advancing to the Division III national semifinals twice (1993 and '94). The 1993 team still holds school records for most points (702) and touchdowns (102) in a single season, as well as averaging a program-best 54 points per game.
"John was always 10 years ahead of everybody else when it came to most of the things he was doing," Palmer said. "Football was changing from a run-first approach to more of a pass-first mentality, and he was right at the forefront of that. We threw the ball a lot when I was there, and when you have as many talented players as we did, that's going to open up a lot of the field.
"Other teams just didn't have enough defensive backs to cover everybody."
Early in his career, Palmer was able to learn from talented receivers like Ryan Murray and Jeremy Loretz. But by 1995, he was the established veteran - helping to mentor talented freshman like Adam Herbst, who went on to become a four-year starter and three-time All-MIAC selection himself.
"Chris was a great receiver and such a natural leader," Herbst recalls. "He had a huge impact on my development. He had such a great year in 1995 that I never felt any pressure at all as a freshman breaking into the starting lineup.
"He was an on-field coach and mentor to me."
Current Johnnies head coach
Gary Fasching didn't join the SJU coaching staff until 1996, the season after Palmer's graduation. But he served as the color commentator on the team's radio broadcasts during those years and said he was consistently amazed by what he saw.
"He was just a tremendous player with great speed," Fasching said. "A real game-breaker. We've been lucky to have had a lot of amazing wide receivers at Saint John's over the years. But Chris Palmer is certainly in the conversation when it comes to the very best.
"Any time Chris touched the ball, he had the ability to turn it into a big play or a touchdown. It seemed like he played at a different speed than everyone else."
Palmer was also an All-MIAC standout in baseball at SJU. But perhaps his most impressive achievements have come post-graduation. A biology major, he went on to attend medical school and has spent the past 21 years at North Memorial Health in the Twin Cities. There, he works for Emergency Physicians Professional Association as the emergency department medical director.
In that role, he helped lead the organization's response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"That was a pretty intense time," he said. "There were a lot of unknowns and a lot of worries and concerns about the health and safety of patients and staff. We faced a lot of challenges."
Palmer said he is able to draw from the lessons he learned playing football at SJU as he goes about his current work.
"Athletics in general can teach you many good traits and qualities," Palmer said. "I think I gained a lot of self-confidence and leadership skills. And those are things that still serve me well today."
