Jesse Palmer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jesse James Palmer (born October 5, 1978, Toronto, Ontario) is a United States-based Canadian sports commentator and former pro-football quarterback. He played in the NFL for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers before spending half a season in 2006 in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes. He is now a college football analyst for ESPN and a football analyst for TSN.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Early life

Palmer was raised in Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. His father, Bill Palmer, played for the Ottawa Rough Riders. Palmer attended St. Pius X High School (Ottawa) and later attended college at the University of Florida.

[edit] The Bachelor

In the spring of 2004, Palmer appeared on The Bachelor television program, in which he was given his choice of eligible single women. He accidentally forgot one woman's name during the first rose ceremony. He eventually selected Jessica Bowlin, but their courtship lasted for only a few months after the end of the show.

[edit] Football career

[edit] College

Palmer played college football at University of Florida where he alternated playing time with quarterback Doug Johnson and later with Rex Grossman.

[edit] NFL

Palmer was drafted by the New York Giants where he spent most of his NFL career as a backup behind starting quarterback Kerry Collins. After a four-year stint as a backup quarterback, Palmer was cut on September 2, 2005 by the Giants. Jesse Palmer was the second Canadian (behind Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins) to start at the quarterback position in the NFL.^[1]

[edit] CFL

At first, wanting to stay in the game, he looked to the Canadian Football League for employment. His rights were held by the Montreal Alouettes; however, the Ottawa Renegades tried to acquire the Ottawa native as their top quarterback, and Palmer expressed interest in playing for his home town. Palmer's agent reportedly asked for a three year contract in the neighborhood of $660,000 per year, which would have made Jesse the highest paid player in the league.^{[citation needed]} Attempting to locate another opportunity to stay in the NFL, Palmer worked out with the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders and was temporarily signed by the San Francisco 49ers on November 1, 2005 as injuries plagued their quarterbacks Alex Smith and Ken Dorsey. Shortly after Dorsey and then Smith returned from injury Palmer was released.^{[citation needed]}

Palmer was re-signed a few months later by the 49ers during the 2006 off-season but was later released on August 29, 2006 toward the end of training camp. On September 11, 2006, the Montreal Alouettes signed him to their developmental roster.

[edit] Broadcasting career

Palmer was a color commentator for Fox for two games late in the 2005 season, and returned to the booth on November 26, 2006. On April 25, 2007, Palmer appeared on the NFL Network as an analyst and commentator for the weekend's NFL Draft.

On May 24, 2007, Palmer announced his retirement from the Canadian Football League to pursue a broadcasting career with Fox.^[2] Palmer currently works for ESPN as a studio analyst on College Football Live and ESPN2 telecasts. He is a game analyst on ESPN Thursday Night College football games.

Palmer is also New York correspondent for CTV's entertainment news program, eTalk, covering both sports and entertainment events, including the Super Bowl and the 79th and 80th Academy Awards.^[3]

Palmer is scheduled to be the studio analyst for ABC's broadcast of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, California.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Personal

He has lived in Hoboken, New Jersey since 2005, in the same building as former Giants teammate Eli Manning and the Governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jesse Palmer at the Internet Movie Database
• Jesse Palmer at TV.com
• Palmer's player profile