Jesse James Palmer is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, and former professional football player who was a quarterback for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) in the early 2000s. Palmer played college football for the Florida Gators under coach Steve Spurrier, and thereafter, he played professionally for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL before spending half of the 2006 season with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

The fifth season of ABC reality television series The Bachelor premiered on April 7, 2004. The show featured 25-year-old Jesse Palmer, a professional football player from Nepean, Ontario. Palmer is the first Canadian and the youngest Bachelor lead in the show's history. The season concluded on May 19, 2004, with Palmer choosing to pursue a relationship with 22-year-old student Jessica Bowlin. They ended their relationship several weeks after the finale.