New "Bachelor" Ready to Play

He really knows how to play the field. He's a great catch. He won't drop the ball on making a love connection...

Prepare to be inundated with sports clichés, as ABC kicks off the fifth season of The Bachelor (Wed., 9 p.m. ET), with a new twist and hunky New York Giants quarterback Jesse Palmer, the first-ever "celebrity" bachelor.

A 25-year-old, Canadian-born University of Florida grad, Palmer has his pick of 25 bachelorettes who are looking for love and, as Palmer himself has hinted, he reportedly completed a pass to at least one of the women.

The show wrapped production in March, and Palmer recently told the Associated Press that he has since been making daily phone calls to "the missus," the recipient of a flower (and an engagement ring?) in the season's upcoming final rose ceremony.

In a new game rule, Palmer gets some pass protection from a secret spy, a player who appears to be a bachelorette, but who is really there to provide the QB with a scouting report on the women's true intentions and locker-room behavior. There's also a new "first impression" rose, given to the women who makes the best first impression on Palmer, the usual round of group and one-on-one dates, trips to meet family and friends, and, in the premiere, a rose ceremony where Palmer says he makes a "terrible mistake." Oooh...

But that love fumble aside, and given his reference to a missus, does Palmer end the season engaged?

His lips are sealed, but ABC must be hoping that his love match scores ratings and helps improve the series' won-loss percentage. Out of four installments of The Bachelor and one season of The Bachelorette, the show's record is 4-1. Only Bachelorette Trista Rehn (a reject from the first season of The Bachelor) made her reality show relationship official, marrying fireman Ryan Sutter in a televised ceremony last year.

As for Palmer's professional stats...let's hope he's more successful playing the field than he has been playing on the field. After being a fourth-round draft pick for the Giants in 2001, Palmer has played in just a handful of games for the team, including three inauspicious starts last season, each of which ended in a team loss. He heads into the next season as a restricted free agent, which means he and his new love match could be headed for a new city.

Palmer, whose brother Billy is a tight end on the University of Notre Dame football team (Bachelor 6 anyone?), says he signed on to be this season's Bachelor because he was looking for a serious relationship with someone more interested in him than in his career.

"One of the things that was appealing about doing this show was the fact that I had a chance to meet 25 women who were going to be beautiful and successful, with careers and all of that, but at the same time they didn't know who I was or what I did when they signed up," Palmer told the Star-Telegram. "I think that was probably the most appealing thing about doing this."

And about that list of potential "missus"-es, the lineup includes Debbie, 27, a massage therapist from Georgia; Holly, 26, a banker from Oklahoma; Jenny, 24, a professional skater from Michigan; Jessica, 25, an attorney from Texas; Mandy, 25, a professional soccer player from San Diego; and Julie, 24, a California native and former NFL cheerleader. The last one makes you wonder: Did Palmer really need to go on a reality TV show to meet an NFL cheerleader?

The only Canadian QB in the NFL, Palmer may ultimately end up more famous for being on a reality-dating show than for his football skills, but he's already infamous with his Giants teammates, who are joining him for a party to celebrate the show's two-hour premiere.

"I am getting ribbed a little bit. I'm sure it will only get worse. But it's been a lot of fun and the guys are really excited. It will be interesting to see what happens. What it's probably going to be is a Jesse Palmer roast by the time the whole thing's done," Palmer said. "I'll probably have a lot of pictures stuck on my locker.

"And I'll probably get tied to a goalpost at some point in the next two months."

We're assuming that's not one of his dates on The Bachelor.