“I’m excited but also very nervous,” said Sam Hartman on Good Morning America.
Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Hartman will star in the milestone 30th season of ABC’s reality series The Bachelor, which premieres in March.
Hartman, 27, has been with Washington since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2024. While he has spent time on and off the 53-man roster, he has not yet appeared in a regular-season game. His teammates offered advice on the plane ride following a 24-21 victory over the New York Giants, though the quarterback joked he would likely ignore their suggestions.
“I have a tough time holding conversation with one girl. Thirty is going to be pretty tough,” Hartman said on Good Morning America.
The quarterback initially felt hesitant about searching for a partner on television, saying “no way” when presented with the opportunity. He changed his mind after speaking with Jesse Palmer, a former NFL player who hosts The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
“He kind of gave me the insight and gave me kind of what it is and what it’s not,” Hartman said of Palmer, according to ABC News. He said that anyone presented with an opportunity to find the love of their life would see the value in it.
“I know one thing, when people are saying, ‘I do,’ they don’t ask you where you met, they just ask if you want to do it forever. I don’t see any problem with that,” Hartman said, as reported by ABC News.
Regarding his ideal partner, Hartman explained that he values a competitive drive. He clarified he is looking for someone with a strong personal motivation that inspires him to wake up daily and pursue them. He also highlighted the importance of compassion and a caregiving mindset.
“My whole family is in the medicine field,” Hartman said, mentioning that his father works as a surgeon and his mother is a nurse. Watching his family dedicate themselves to helping others shaped his perspective, and their primary advice to him was simply to remain authentic, enjoy the experience, and trust his instincts.
Before entering the NFL, Hartman played college football at Wake Forest University before transferring to the University of Notre Dame for his final season in 2023. He finished his college career with 134 touchdown passes, setting an Atlantic Coast Conference record.
During his collegiate career, he reached 14,000 career passing yards, making him the first FBS quarterback since Baker Mayfield in 2017 to hit that milestone.
He also concluded his college run ranking fourth in FBS history for passing touchdowns, recording 35 consecutive games with a passing touchdown and holding the record for the most 300-yard passing games in ACC history. During his single season at Notre Dame, he posted the second-best single-season passer rating in the program’s history at 159.5.
In 2022 at Wake Forest, Hartman received a diagnosis of Paget-Schroetter syndrome, a rare condition that causes blood clots in a vein near the collarbone. He returned to the field that season and received the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award, which recognizes the conference’s “most courageous” football player.
Season 30 of The Bachelor will air on ABC and will be available for streaming the following day on Hulu, a platform operated alongside ABC News and Disney+ by parent company The Walt Disney Co.