The Bachelor is back after a two-year hiatus, and it has found its leading man in Sam Hartman, the 27-year-old Washington Commanders backup quarterback. The show announced Friday that Hartman will star in its milestone 30th season, with the goal of a marriage proposal by the finale.

The season premieres Sunday, March 21, 2027, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.

"I'm excited but also very nervous," Hartman said on Good Morning America in his first interview as the new lead, joking, "I have a tough time holding conversation with one girl. 30 is going to be pretty tough."

The choice marks a striking crossover for a franchise trying to reignite itself. Yahoo reports the break came amid behind-the-scenes leadership changes and declining viewership, plus scrutiny after Taylor Frankie Paul's season of The Bachelorette was canceled.

Hartman also admitted he was initially hesitant about looking for love on television. According to ABC News, he changed his mind after talking with Jesse Palmer, the former NFL quarterback who led the show's fifth season in 2004 and now hosts it.

"When people are saying 'I do,' they don't ask you where you met. They just ask if you want to do it forever. And I don't see any problem with that," Hartman said.

Hartman's path is an underdog story in its own right. He went undrafted in 2024 before the Commanders signed the Charlotte, North Carolina, native to their practice squad, and he has yet to play a regular season game.

ESPN notes he joins a long line of athletes in the franchise, including Grant Ellis, Jesse Palmer, Colton Underwood and Matt James, who also played at Wake Forest.

Hartman's resilience off the field adds warmth to the story.

According to ABC News, he was diagnosed in 2022 with Paget-Schroetter syndrome, a rare condition that causes blood clots in a vein near the collarbone, yet he returned to the field that season and won the ACC's Brian Piccolo Award for the conference's most courageous player.

Asked what he seeks in a partner, Hartman said he wants someone with a competitive drive that motivates him "to wake up every day and chase them," plus compassion and caregiving, inspired by a family working in medicine.

With the announcement now public, attention shifts to whether a milestone season can deliver the franchise a win of its own. Hartman says his family's advice was simple: "Be myself and enjoy the experience and trust the instincts and trust your gut."

For a show betting a two-year layoff ends with a quarterback who has already beaten long odds, the premiere can't come soon enough.