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Jesse Palmer Talks Football, TV, and Ottawa
Former New York Giant, and Hollywood’s first professional athlete and Canadian to ever appear on The Bachelor, Jesse Palmer discusses his Ottawa roots, NFL career, and how he transitioned to a successful career in broadcasting.
He played a very instrumental role in my football journey. He helped foster my love and passion for the game. He would take me to CFL games, he coached my youth football teams, and was always able and willing to throw the football outside on our front lawn, and talk about life, the game, and my future. You were the first Canadian born and raised Quarterback to ever start an NFL game. What did it feel like heading out to start your first game? Did you get to enjoy the moment at all? One of the best moments of my life. I experienced a wide variety of emotions that night. Excitement, anxiety, pride and gratefulness. I thought a lot about my journey, the hard work, and all of those that helped me along the way, and who I got to share my experiences with. My best friends from Ottawa flew to New Orleans to watch the game, and they hung a Canadian flag from their seats at the top of the SuperDome. I remember jogging onto the field at the start of the game, seeing them, and smiling because I knew I wasn’t alone.
You were born in Toronto and raised in Nepean. What was your childhood like growing up in Ottawa? Ottawa was the perfect place to grow up. It’s such a beautiful city, multicultural, with warm people. I have a lot of happy memories growing up in PineGlen (neighborhood), playing sports with my friends at the park, and of course Rough Riders games with my family at Landsdowne Park. Rockwell’s in the Merivale Mall was our hangout in high school. Your dad played for the Ottawa Rough Riders. How instrumental was your dad in shaping your journey in football?
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Neville Gallimore, who will also be featured in this issue, became just the third player from Ottawa to be drafted into the NFL, joining you and Christo Bilukidi. What do you think of Neville as a player, and what impact he could have with the Cowboys? Does it give you a sense of pride to see another hometown kid get drafted? I’m so happy for Neville. I’ve been a big fan of his, watching him play every weekend from our ESPN headquarters in Bristol, CT over the past four years. I think Neville can have an immediate impact for the Cowboys. He possesses rare athletic gifts that athletes his size aren’t often blessed with. If he continues to work, I think the sky’s the limit for Neville.
Looking back to when you first began your transition into broadcasting from football, what was one of the most surprising lessons that you learned? After the 2006 CFL season, my first TV job was doing color commentary for the NFL on FOX, which meant of course that I was broadcasting my friends’ games throughout the league. I remember at first feeling awkward having to at times be critical of their performance, but I learned that in order to fully serve the viewer at home, I was expected to do my homework and offer my own professional opinion. It is probably the hardest part about being a broadcaster, but I believe the best generally don’t get caught up in the emotion, and don’t make things personal. I’ve always tried to remain impartial and unbiased. You’re a huge Game of Thrones fan. What’s one thing you didn’t like about how the series ended? My biggest criticism would be that they tried to fit too much storyline into too few episodes, and everything felt rushed! There were some major events that felt glossed over. The Long Night episode was about as epic as it gets, though. You’re currently the host of DailyMail TV. How has this role helped to shape your development as a TV personality? What’s it like working with this team? I feel very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to host Daily Mail TV, as it’s really enabled me to stretch and challenge myself in the Entertainment/ News industry. I love “quarterbacking” the show, it’s fast-paced; we cover a wide variety of topics with correspondents all over the globe. I’m very lucky to work with such a talented and hard working team.
