Jesse Palmer joined ESPN in 2007 as a college football analyst. The former University of Florida quarterback joined the network a few years after five seasons in the NFL. Before 2008, Palmer primarily worked in the studio. In 2008, Palmer became a college football analyst on the ESPN College Football Primetime Thursday game, joining announcer Chris Fowler and former analyst Craig James in the booth. He still works on the popular weekday series with commentator Rece Davis and reporter Jenn Brown. Palmer also serves as a studio analyst on College Football Live, ESPN’s daily college football show at 3:30 p.m. In 2009, Palmer added ABC Studio analyst to his duties, joining longtime analyst John Saunders in providing pregame, halftime and postgame analysis for every telecast on ABC and during the half-hour College Football Countdown at 3 p.m. He previously provided studio analysis on Saturdays throughout the season, primarily on ESPN2 with host Wendi Nix. Palmer’s broadcast career began with Fox Sports Net, with analysis on Arena Football League games. He was later a game and studio analyst for CSTV in late 2005 and worked NFL games for Fox in 2006. He has been featured as an analyst on the NFL Network and has done studio work with MSG. From 1997-2000 at Florida, Palmer alternated at quarterback with Doug Johnson and then Rex Grossman. In 14 starts through 27 games played, Palmer is 11th on the Gators’ career-record list with 3,755 yards passing, and 12th in career touchdown passes with 31. For his career, he completed 254 passes. He also was named to the Southeastern Conference’s academic honor roll in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and earned the Dr. Lombardi GPA Award in the spring of 1999. The New York Giants selected Palmer 125th overall in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He spent four years with the Giants. In 2003, starting three of the six games in which he played, Palmer completed 60 passes for 532 yards and three touchdowns. In 2005, he briefly spent time with the San Francisco 49ers, and later played for the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Palmer is fluent in French. His father, Bill, also played in the CFL, with the Ottawa Rough Riders. Jesse’s brother, Billy, played college football at Notre Dame. Palmer, a Montreal native, graduated from Florida with bachelor’s degrees in marketing and political science, now lives in New York City.
