Sam Hartman Is The Bachelor: What It Means for the Commanders QB
ABC named Commanders practice squad quarterback Sam Hartman the Season 30 lead, and filming is set for after the NFL season.
Washington Commanders practice squad quarterback Sam Hartman is The Bachelor. ABC made the Sam Hartman Bachelor announcement Friday morning on “Good Morning America,” less than a day after Washington beat the Giants on Thursday night.
Season 30 of the dating show premieres Sunday, March 21, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, NBC News reported. For Commanders fans, the big question is simple: does this pull him away from football? Based on what’s been reported so far, no.
Sam Hartman Bachelor news: what ABC announced
Hartman, 27, is the new lead for the show’s 30th season. Variety reported that the franchise is coming back after two years off the air, so ABC is relaunching it with a football player in the lead role.
He told GMA he is “excited but also very nervous,” per The Washington Times. Hartman also said his first answer to the offer was “no way.” Host Jesse Palmer, a former NFL quarterback, talked him into it by explaining what the show is and what it isn’t.
Does The Bachelor conflict with the NFL season?
The timing works. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said the season shoots early next year, after the NFL season, as relayed by Yardbarker. That leaves Hartman free to keep practicing with Washington through the end of the 2026 schedule.
Rapoport also noted that Hartman flew home with the team after the win in New Jersey before the announcement. In other words, he is still part of the weekly routine.
The fine print matters here: Hartman is on the practice squad, not the active roster. Practice squad players can be elevated for games, but he has yet to take a regular-season snap.
Hartman’s NFL résumé so far
The story has a football side that gets lost in the reality-TV buzz.
- College: Five seasons at Wake Forest and one at Notre Dame. He set ACC records for career touchdown passes and 300-yard passing games, according to Variety.
- Draft: Undrafted in 2024. He signed with Washington as a free agent.
- NFL games: None in the regular season. Pro Football Talk notes he has been on and off the 53-man roster since 2024.
- Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina.
That’s life for a practice squad quarterback: practice reps and scout-team work, but no Sunday snaps yet. A national TV spotlight doesn’t change his depth chart spot. It does make him one of the most recognizable practice squad players in the league.
Not the first quarterback with a rose
ABC has gone to the NFL well before. Jesse Palmer was a Giants quarterback when he led the show in 2004, the first pro athlete in the role, Pro Football Talk noted. Palmer now hosts the franchise, and he is the one who helped sell Hartman on it.
That history is part of the appeal for ABC. A quarterback brings sports fans in, and Hartman already has a following from his college days and the Netflix series “QB1: Beyond the Lights.”
Back to football: Commanders’ next step
For now, Hartman’s job is the same as it was on Thursday: help the starters get ready. Washington is coming off a 24-21 win over the Giants on Thursday Night Football, a game played through the rain and wind of a nor’easter.
The roses can wait until the offseason. Washington’s season comes first.
