Jesse James Palmer is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, actor, and former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons in the early 2000s.
Palmer played college football for the University of Florida, graduating with dual degrees in Arts and Science, and then played professionally for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. He was only the second Canadian to start at quarterback in the NFL.
His football talent came from his father, Bill, who played linebacker for the Ottawa Rough Riders. His interest in media and business stems from his mother, who after a successful modeling career, founded the MIM Model International Management agency.
Whilst playing NFL Jesse was cast in 2004 as the bachelor in the reality television series The Bachelor. After retiring as a professional athlete he went on to become a college football analyst. He joined ESPN in 2007 as a studio analyst on College Football Live and ABC telecasts, and frequently appeared with fellow Canadian John Saunders until 2017.
He has also been a columnist for the website of The Sports Network in Canada and a contributor to ABC's Good Morning America.
Branching away from the sport he played, he recently hosted the kickoff season of The Proposal on ABC and the Holiday Baking Championship on The Food Network. In 2017 he began hosting the newly launched DailyMailTV.