BLOCK-BUSTER

Shock as Active NFL Quarterback Is Named as ‘The Bachelor’

The NFL star said he was “very nervous”—but ready to find love.

An active NFL star will soon be juggling footballs and roses as he steps into a high-profile new role.

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Hartman, 27, is The Bachelor for the show’s 30th season, ABC has announced.

The six-foot-one North Carolina native first made waves at Wake Forest University, where he set several records to become one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

The Bachelor is currently hosted by former NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer.

In 2022, Hartman was diagnosed with Paget-Schroetter syndrome, a rare condition common among athletes and manual laborers in which blood clots form in the upper arm veins. That same year, Hartman received the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Brian Piccolo Award, which recognizes the most courageous player.

Hartman transferred to the University of Notre Dame in 2023. He signed with the Washington Commanders the following year.

The new bachelor told Good Morning America that he was feeling “very nervous” but ready to find love.

“I have a tough time holding a conversation with one girl. Thirty is going to be pretty tough,” he said. “My teammates were giving me some advice on the plane ride back. So, probably not going to listen to anybody on that. But, no, I’m excited, but also very nervous.”

Hartman said he’s looking for competitiveness, compassion, and “some type of caregiving,” citing his family’s background in the medical field. His father is an orthopedic surgeon, and his mother is a labor and delivery nurse.

“I think competitiveness and somebody that I want to be able to chase and—you know, not chasing away that like, ‘You haven’t texted me back in a week,’ but like chasing a way that they have a drive for something, and that motivates me to wake up every day and chase them,” he explained.

“I think we got some really cool stuff planned and they’ve got to be ready to bring their competitive spirit,” he added.

Football fans appeared eager to see an NFL star on the long-running reality dating show, which premieres March 21.

“This might be what gets me to actually watch the bachelor,” one user wrote on X under The Bachelor’s announcement.

“Should be the most watched series of all time. Sam is a stud,” another said.

“Gonna make my Notre Dame loving bf watch this with me,” one user wrote.

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Julia OrnedoReporter

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