From Practice Squad to Primetime: NFL Quarterback Sam Hartman Is the New Bachelor

ABC did not pick an actor. It did not pick an influencer. It picked a quarterback who has never taken a snap in a regular-season NFL game.

The network announced Friday morning that Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Hartman, 27, will lead the 30th season of "The Bachelor." The news broke on "Good Morning America," hours after the Commanders beat the New York Giants on Thursday night. Season 30 premieres Sunday, March 21, 2027, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, with episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.

"The 27-year-old pro athlete is ready to find his forever teammate," ABC said in its announcement. "With the same leadership and heart that won over fans on the field, Hartman will begin handing out roses as he searches for love."

Hartman did not pretend the offer was an easy yes. His first reaction, he said on "Good Morning America," was doubt. "Honestly, at first, I was like no way … the connotation of it, I was like, I don't know," he said. A conversation with Jesse Palmer changed his mind. Palmer, the show's host, was the Bachelor in season five and played quarterback in the NFL. "He kind of gave me the insight," Hartman said of Palmer, "what it is, what it's not."

The nerves are real. "I'm excited but also very nervous," he said. "I have a tough time holding conversation with one girl. 30 is going to be pretty tough." His teammates offered advice on the plane ride back from the Giants game. "My teammates were there giving me some advice on the plane ride back, so probably not gonna listen to anybody on that."

Hartman grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent four seasons at Wake Forest, where he was twice named All-ACC. He played his final college season at Notre Dame in 2023, then went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft. Washington signed him as a free agent that spring.

He has spent most of his two pro seasons on the practice squad and has yet to appear in a regular-season game. This season he is Washington's fourth-string quarterback, behind Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota and rookie Athan Kaliakmanis. Most past leads were contestants first, introduced over a season of someone else's story. Hartman arrives with a different kind of fame: a college star and an NFL roster name, even if he has barely played.

The casting also ends a long silence. "The Bachelor" has not aired a new season since 2025, when Grant Ellis closed his run engaged to Juliana Pasquarosa — an engagement that ended within three months of the finale. Hartman's season will be the franchise's first new entry since "Bachelor in Paradise" aired in the summer of 2025.

The return follows a rough stretch. A planned "Bachelorette" season starring Taylor Frankie Paul was canceled days before its March 2026 premiere, following allegations of domestic violence involving Paul and her former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. ABC has not said that shaped the Hartman casting. But the two-year gap, the canceled season and an outside-the-pipeline lead all point to a network trying to reset the show.

The announcement landed the morning after a Commanders win. Within the hour, "Sam Hartman" jumped past 50,000 searches on Google Trends in the United States, up more than 1,000 percent.

Whether a practice-squad quarterback can carry a dating show is an open question. Hartman has spent his pro career waiting for a chance to play. Now he gets one in front of a different audience — 30 women, one rose ceremony at a time, and a premiere date already circled for March.