Florida football: 15 greatest quarterbacks in Gators history
By John Buhler
Jesse Palmer will always be best known for being the star of the fifth season of The Bachelor back in 2004. Others might know him for the work he does covering the college game for ESPN as an analyst or in the booth. But before all of that, he was a starting quarterback for the Gators football team.
Palmer, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, made the trek southward from Canada to play his college ball for the Head Ball Coach down in Gainesville. His father had played in the CFL for the then-Ottawa Rough Riders, so he had some quarterbacking pedigree on his side before giving the “Fun ‘n’ Gun” a shot collegiately.
Palmer played throughout his four-year run in Florida from 1997 to 2000, but was sandwiched between two better collegiate passers in the form of Doug Johnson and Rex Grossman. After Johnson went undrafted in 2000, it was Palmer’s time to shine as Florida’s starting quarterback in his senior season.
Splitting some time with the redshirt freshman Grossman, Palmer really shined in what was his final year in Gainesville. Palmer’s numbers weren’t overly spectacular, as he completed just 52 percent of his passes for 1,653 yards, 11 touchdowns and four touchdowns. However, Florida would crush the Auburn Tigers in the 2000 SEC Championship that fall, justifying Steve Spurrier’s decision to go quarterback by committee that season.
Palmer would leave Gainesville after the 2000 NCAA season with a career 53-percent completion percentage for 3,755 yards, 31 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He boasted a career 7.8 yards per attempt and a career passer efficiency rating of 133.1.
He ended up being a fourth-round pick by the New York Giants in the 2001 NFL Draft. Palmer also went No. 15 overall in the 2001 CFL Draft to the Montreal Alouettes. In total, Palmer played five years in the NFL, primarily with the Giants and the 2006 CFL season with Montreal before hanging up the spikes.