Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Jesse Palmer's Secret For Longevity In The Broadcast Industry

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

Right About Now with Ryan Alford Join media personality and marketing expert Ryan Alford as he dives into dynamic conversations with top entrepreneurs, marketers, and influencers. "Right About Now" brings you actionable insights on business, marketing, and personal branding, helping you stay ahead in today's fast-paced digital world. Whether it's exploring how character and charisma can make millions or unveiling the strategies behind viral success, Ryan delivers a fresh perspective with every episode. Perfect for anyone looking to elevate their business game and unlock their full potential. Resources: Right About Now Newsletter | Free Podcast Monetization Course | Join The Network |Follow Us On Instagram | Subscribe To Our Youtube Channel | Vibe Science Media SUMMARY In this episode of "Right About Now with Ryan Alford," Ryan interviews Jesse Palmer, former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst and host of "The Bachelor." Jesse shares insights on his journey from football to television, emphasizing the importance of living in the moment, hard work, and preparation. He reflects on memorable career moments, the value of a positive mindset, and lessons learned from mentors. The conversation also covers his transition to hosting "The Bachelor," maintaining impartiality, and balancing his multifaceted career, offering listeners inspiration for personal and professional growth. TAKEAWAYS Jesse Palmer's journey from college football quarterback to NFL player and ESPN analyst. Transition from sports to reality television, specifically his experiences on "The Bachelor." The importance of maintaining a positive mindset and living in the moment. Insights into Jesse's work ethic, preparation, and dedication to his broadcasting career. The role of family and positive influences in personal and professional success. Memorable moments in Jesse's broadcasting career, including significant games and experiences. The evolution of "The Bachelor" franchise and its impact on reality TV. Jesse's approach to hosting "The Bachelor" and maintaining impartiality. The significance of hard work and preparation in achieving longevity in a competitive field. Lessons learned from sports and coaching that apply to his current career.  

We cut through the noise to cover the topics that matter for your personal and professional growth. Today, we're diving deep with Jesse Palmer to unlock the playbook for success, discussing everything from his journey in college football in ESPN to becoming part of the most talked-about franchise in pop culture, The Bachelor. I hope you enjoy this episode. You've got to be careful who your circles are. Every football player's got kind of a tiny circle. You've got the team, you got the offense. But you have like four or five dudes, different positions that you kind of run with.

You've got to be careful who those guys are. I was always trying to make sure they were positive people that were appreciative of what we were doing and loved what we were doing. This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over one million downloads a month.

Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping necks and cash and checks? Well, it starts right about now. Hey guys, what's up? We're talking Bachelor today. We're talking college football. We're talking Jesse Palmer.

What's up, brother? Good, brother. Good being on with you. How are we doing? I'm doing great, man. Fabulous. I've been dying to have you on the show. I've been a big fan from afar watching you play college football.

I remember you playing. I'm old enough to remember that. That was going to say, you're definitely dating yourself right away. There's something about you. I see you on television. I'm talking to you now. There's a joy and a happiness. You know, some people you feel like they carry the way to the world or they have issues or whatever.

It may even be polarizing maybe for people with you because I always just sense and have always liked this about you. There's just kind of like this. I'm in this moment and I'm enjoying it and I'm a happy person. And I've just always respected that about you. And the more I talk to you sitting here, it feels real. I appreciate it. And I don't know if you've ever talked about that. I don't know.

And I don't know where that comes from. Just that joyous spirit or happiness. Dude, you're the first, you're the first person that's ever actually asked me that. I try to think of myself as being a guy that's in the present. I try to stay cognizant of that. You know, it might have to do with playing football all those years and just listening to buddies and teammates always talk about what or could or shoulda. I shouldn't have come to Florida, man. I should have gone to South Carolina. I would have been a starter and I'd be in the league right now if I'd done that. If I didn't come here, I wouldn't have torn my ACL. I should have

never married that girl. If I didn't do that, I would have had this time to do these things. And on the flip side of that, people always just so worried about the next contract, what was happening way down the line. And it just seemed so stressful to me. And I wasn't even the one saying those things. Those weren't even my thoughts, but just being surrounded by all that fear all the time and that, I don't want to say negative energy, but the nervous energy. That's a good way to put it. It was draining on me. And I just felt happiest and the most comfortable when I just really thought about the here and now. And at ESPN, like when we're in studio and we're doing a half time, I'm just really trying to enjoy that moment and that halftime.

And I'm not worrying about the one hour long college football final that's going to go live at 2 a.m. That we're all going to be dreading because we've been awake for 15 hours. You know, it's just people have told me that's a very Buddhist way of thinking about things. And I'm not a Buddhist. It's just how I have tried to compartmentalize things because our lives can at times seem there's a lot going on. And it gives you that anxiety. I don't even have kids yet. I can't imagine.

We were talking before we started. You've got four boys. Dude, I can't imagine you having to. think about balancing that and your wife and your kids and now your podcast and your job and your family and travel. I don't know how you do that either. You must be the same. You must just be in the moment. Is there a moment that sticks out one of your best moments? I'm sure you've had a ton now, whether it was at a game where the energies are so high or maybe in studio. Is there a moment or two that are standouts at this point? Yeah, it's funny. You can think back and I remember

so many games and amazing environments that I was in at the time. There have been a few oh crap moments though. The first was when I called my first game with Brett Musburger. He's such a legend. And he's a guy that's called so many big games in college football in the NFL. He's been to like Ali Frazier. He's done so many different things, Olympics, everything. But we were in South Carolina doing a Texas A&M, South Carolina game. And the broadcast started and the place is going nuts. And they're playing Space Odyssey. And the place is absolutely freaking out. And all of a sudden, he comes on and you hear the classic, You are looking live. And I had this old crap moment where I just froze.

Crap, like, I'm in the booth with Brent Musburger about to call this game. How cool is that? And then him and I called an Iron Bowl. We did a Bama Auburn game, which was incredible. Him and I called Rose Bowl, which I still can't believe I did that. It's like stuff that when I started at ESPN, my first game I called was Rice versus Utep, and it was the greatest thing of all time. It was the greatest thing ever.

You're definitely a junkie. If you told me that, like, down the road, I'd get a chance to be in Pasadena, Rose Bowl, with Brent Musburger. I mean, it's amazing the journey and how lucky I've been, honestly. I don't take a second of that job for granted. What do you think's attributed to your longevity with ESPN? You're easy to work with, I'm sure. It's kind of where I was wanting to go, like, this nature or nurture thing with you, man. I can't quite put my finger on it.

You know, both your joy in doing things, your attitude. I'm almost kind of getting at what makes you successful while also asking. that longevity is not easy in the sport you just described. This kind of goes back playing football. I just work really, really hard at it, and I study a lot. I watch a lot of tape. I watch so much film. Every year, I've got just books and binders of notes that I've taken watching teams.

I put a lot into it. And a lot of people that do this job, everybody sort of has their own path and their own way that they operate. Some guys are great at just not studying and just kind of showing up and watching the game and just giving it to your raw and live. I do it the way I used to play quarterback, where you watch, film. You study the opponent. You do it for a week. And then you're able to sort of take everything that you've studied and you've got in your head and you sort of kind of spit it out on game

day with respect to what you're seeing. So I hope part of my longevity has to do with the product that I'm putting out. And a lot of that really is preparation and really hard work. I'm not the guy that just kind of shows up and wings it for the fans and the viewers at home. Hopefully that comes across. No, it does. I always feel like you're over prepared. It does come across. It's a compliment. Robotically. Not because you're a robot, but the detail. Yeah. It's there. Is it nature or nurture for you, man? Is this all like, is your parents just raise you well or do you just built this way?

I was very, very lucky. I had two incredible role models and my mom and my dad. They definitely instilled a lot of discipline in me, a lot of work ethic and a lot of gratitude and appreciation growing up at a very young age. And I think staying close to them throughout my entire life and having the messages reinforced over and over I think has definitely helped a lot. And I think trying to be around like-minded people, we talked a lot about my teammates back in the day and football is a funny thing college football especially there's like

a hundred and twenty dudes in the locker room and there's a lot of guys you got to be careful who your circles are every football player's got kind of a tiny circle you got the team you got the offense but you have like four or five dudes different positions that you kind of run with you got to be careful who those guys are i was always trying to make sure they were positive people that were appreciative of what we were doing and loved what we were doing i think family and i think my circle my teammates and my buddies i think are and my wife emily's is really the biggest reason. I remember like playing for Sean Payton with the New York Giants. And I remember like he would grind. He was like a John Gridden disciple who would grind all hours of the night. We'd be in our

quarterback meeting Friday morning. Sean had the biggest eye bags. He was crushing dip. Coffee. It's like double fisting coffees and he was going through it. And he would put so much work into our game plan. Our playbook for that was huge. And we would lose a game and be really disappointing and just put up six points and just all 160 yards. And I think to myself, man, how's he going to change? Obviously, that was not a good outcome. We lost the game. That was embarrassing. How is he going to change his preparation the next time? And to his credit, he never did. He just trusted the process. He went back in the office at 4 a.m. on Monday and just started the whole thing again, trusting that in believing in what he was doing was right. That really

sort of taught me, you've got to find whatever it is that it gets you ready and just believe in it. And I have good days in studio and I have bad days in studio. And I have good days in the booth and I have bad days in the booth. But I don't try to deviate too much from what got me here and what's allowed me to be successful these last 15 years. Yeah, I think it's good for people to hear that because, dude, man, you look like you got it all together, you're good-looking guy, you've been on The Bachelor, which we're going to get to. And it's like, but no, this guy is busting his ass, working hard, preparing, and it doesn't just get handed. It's hard work. It's good for people to hear that from you because, you know, you deal, I'm sure you've dealt with that in your life. Oh, you got easy or something. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Listen, no doubt about it. And I tell people this all the time. My career at Florida and playing in the NFL and being on The Bachelor, to some extent, did that help me, ESPN? Absolutely, it did. Of course it did. Yeah. But once you get there, what do you do with it? Because we've also had a lot of, we've had NFL Hall of Famers at ESPN that got a job because of that, but they didn't last very long because they didn't work very hard. At the end of the day, it's your resume, your game tape, your film and what you put out on camera at ESPN and studio and in the booth,

that is your resume and it speaks for itself. Let's talk about The Bachelor. You were the Bachelor and you're the host of The Bachelor placing Chris Harrison. I don't know how old you are. How are you 40 yet? Are you getting there. I'm in there. You're in there, getting in there. I'm in there somewhere. We're in there somewhere. But Chris Harrison looks whatever, but he's done the bachelor for 28 years or whatever. So you got to follow him up. I think you've done a great job. I don't know. Just talk about that Bachelor experience. What's that's been like? Yeah, it's been wild. I mean, going back to 2004, when I became The Bachelor, that was kind of this, that was this amazing opportunity. It's funny. I've always sort of been a guy that just kind of tries to take opportunities and make the most out of

them and just kind of have fun with again kind of being in the moment not worrying about what the repercussions are of it i'd be lying if i told you that in 2004 i knew what i was doing if i had said trust me i'm going to do that i'm playing in the NFL right now i'm going to do this job and in a couple years this is totally going to open doors for me in my broadcasting career i had no idea in 2004 that i wanted to be on television at all that whole thing happened beyond a shadow of a doubt i don't know if it really helped me with ESPN but it definitely helped me with food network with good Morning America and obviously being the host of The Bachelor now years and years later, Daily Mail and some of these other shows that I've been associated with. It has been so cool this

year coming back years and years later to be part of the franchise again. And the amazing thing has just been how much bigger the show is now. Dude, when I did it in 2004, reality TV was like a brand new thing. And I remember being in the locker room with all the guys in New York Giants like Michael Strahan, Tiki Barber, Amani Tumor. I'm having to explain to them what reality TV. is and then also what The Bachelor is. What is that? Wait, you're going on a reality show to get a date? Is that kind of what you're doing? Like, it's a little bit more than that. Like, you're going on. You're hopefully going to get married. It's all on reality TV and explain all that. And then today, to fast forward, the budget's obviously way bigger, obviously. The travel's crazy. It's still the nuts and bolts are the same and the concept of it is the same. But the fans and Bachelor Nation is just grown by leaps and bound. They multiply. I can't think of another show that has a fan base. so into it and just so, so emotional about it and so invested in it. It's like a Clemson fan base or an SEC fan. That's what it feels like. Yeah, right. It's just, they are so passionate about it, and that's been really, really cool to sort of be back part of that. I think you've done a really

good job, last thing I want to say, because it didn't know because you're charismatic guy and you've been the bats and I was like, how's he going to be Switzerland? Because that's kind of what Chris Harrison, like his greatest attribute was he was so switched. That's why you'd respect him. How is Jesse going to do this? Not because you're arrogant or you've got to be sent her attention. It's just more of you're that guy. I think you've done an admirable job of finding that neutral zone. So I'll give you that.

Towing the line. I appreciate it, dude. Yeah, I've tried to not make it about me. I don't want to be like the old Uncle Jesse who's like, back in my day, I would have done this. This is what you need to say. This is Clayton's, this is his game. This is his deal. He's got to figure it out.

I'm sort of there to try to keep him. Trying to give him the seminar as much as I'm holding it for him. I'm like, dude, just lay up. Yeah, lay up. both times he's swinging for fences jesse everybody knows probably where to find you but where do you direct people when they're wanting to keep up with you oh just instagram jessie palmer on instagram and jesse jesse palmer tv on twitter is pretty much it yeah hey i really enjoyed this hope we can do it again down the road and would love to stay in touch absolutely brother

thanks so much for having me on i really appreciate it we really appreciate him you know where to find us search for jesse palmer you'll find all of the content from today i'm ryan offered on all the platforms. We'll see you next time on the Radcast. This has been right about now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit Ryanisright.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening.