'The Bachelor' names NFL quarterback Sam Hartman as Season 30 lead - USA Today
ABC is going for the full touchdown with its latest "Bachelor" lead.
NFL quarterback Sam Hartman will be the star of the 2027 landmark 30th season of the reality dating franchise, the network announced Nov. 13.
"The 27-year-old pro athlete is ready to find his forever teammate," ABC's news release said. "With the same leadership and heart that won over fans on the field, Hartman will begin handing out roses as he searches for love."
Appearing on "Good Morning America" on Nov. 13, Hartman was candid when it came to his first thoughts on joining Bachelor nation. "Honestly, at first, I was like 'no way,'" he admitted to cohosts Sam Champion and Rebecca Jarvis. "The connotation of it − I don't know."
But a conversation with the show's current host Jesse Palmer made him change his tune. Palmer was still playing in the NFL when he became the show's Bachelor in Season 5. (He ended the season in a relationship with winner Jessica Bowlin, but they split a month after the May 2004 finale.)
"He kind of gave me the insight, what it is, what it's not," Hartman explained of Palmer. "I’m excited but also very nervous."
"I have a tough time holding conversation with one girl. Thirty [women] is going to be pretty tough," Hartman added. "My teammates were there giving me some advice on the plane ride back, so [I'm] probably not going to listen to anybody on that."
Hartman began his professional career in 2024 after playing his final collegiate year at Notre Dame in 2023. He went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft but signed with the Washington Commanders as a free agent.
The 27-year-old has spent most of his career on the Commanders' practice squad, and he has yet to appear in a regular season game. In the 2026 season, Hartman is Washington's fourth-string quarterback behind starter Jayden Daniels, backup Marcus Mariota and rookie third-stringer Athan Kaliakmanis.
Hartman told "GMA" that his parents are "excited" and "their big thing is [to] be myself and enjoy the experience and trust the instincts, trust your gut, that's what gotten you here so far."
He says he's looking for "competitiveness" in a future partner. "I want to be able to chase; not chase in a way that you've got to text me back in a week but chase in a way that they have a drive for something and that motivates me to wake up everyday and chase them."
It's been a long time since audiences have seen a new season of "The Bachelor," which is one of the longest-running and most successful reality TV shows on American TV (it premiered in 2002). But it's not without its fair share of controversies and ups and downs.
The last time the show was on air was in 2025, and star Grant Ellis left the season engaged, although he and winner Juliana Pasquarosa ended their relationship less than three months after the finale aired.
Hartman's season will be the first entry in any series in the franchise since the summer 2025 season of "Bachelor in Paradise." The show's return comes after Taylor Frankie Paul's "Bachelorette" season was canceled just days before its March 2026 premiere due to allegations of domestic violence between the "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
"The Bachelor" Season 30 will premiere March 21, 2027, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
