Bruce Arians drank paint as a child, says Carson Palmer throws better deep than Peyton Manning

July 14 (UPI) -- Bruce Arians is known as the "Quarterback Whisperer." But did you know he drank paint as a child?

The Arizona Cardinals coach admitted as much, and talked about his best quarterbacks, Wednesday on NFL Network.

He was asked a series of questions about some of his most-talented gunslingers. Arians has mentored Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck and Carson Palmer during his decorated career as a coordinator, assistant and head coach.

He said Roethlisberger had the best musical playlist. Arians said the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback plays Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, country and more from his golf cart. Arians also said that Roethlisberger's "unbelievable" golf game is the best of the foursome.

The coach said Manning had the best out-route throw of them all.

"I've gotta go with Peyton," Arians told Good Morning Football. "He was probably as close to Johnny Unitas, who was the best ever, to Raymond Berry. See, you guys are too young. He threw that thing on timing as good as anybody."

When asked who threw the prettiest deep ball, Arians didn't hesitate.

He held up a photo of Palmer, the Cardinals' veteran quarterback.

"The one and only," he said. "They all do, but his ... I remember from the Pittsburgh sideline. He dropped a dime on Chris Henry about 58 yards in the air and I'm like, 'we're in trouble today.' But that's when he got hurt. Kimo [von Oelhoffen] got him on his knee, accidentally. But unbelievable ... I stand in awe of him every day watching him throw the deep balls. He can change. It's like 5-iron, 8-iron, 9-iron. He can just drop them every different ... it's amazing."

Arians recently told CBS Sports Radio that he thinks Palmer could play until he's 40 or 42 years old.

Arians also said Manning would be the least likely to pick up a check at an expensive restaurant, while Luck would be the most likely to pay.

The coach is on a tour for his new book, The Quarterback Whisperer.

He makes many hard-hitting revelations in the book, including the fact that he coached the 2016 season through kidney cancer.

The 64-year-old had a portion of his kidney removed in February. He was also hospitalized in November and August with chest and stomach pain. Arians also dealt with prostate cancer in 2007 and had cancer cells removed from his nose in 2013.

His 352-page book was released Tuesday and was co-authored by Lars Anderson.

Arians dropped some hilarious stories about his childhood in the book, including the fact that he had to get his stomach pumped twice after drinking paint.

"I was allergic to milk as a child," Arians told NFL Network. "My older brother would always get a big glass and drink it in front of me all the time. Daddy was painting the kitchen one day, and I saw that big creamy white bucket, just grabbed it started drinking it."

Here is an excerpt from his new book, courtesy of The Ringer:

"When I was younger I wasn't allowed to drink milk, because I was allergic to it. Was that going to stop me from drinking something that was surely going to make my bones stronger? Hell no. So I drank paint," Arians said. "Sure, I had to get my stomach pumped twice, but I had to try to put something down my throat that looked like milk and might make me harder to tackle when playing in our neighborhood football games."

Arians owns a 41-22-1 record as an NFL head coach. He waited nearly 40 years to get his first NFL head coaching gig, coaching for 38 years in the college and pro ranks.