Last week when I was talking about former NFL NY Giants quarterback Jesse Palmer, it kind of brought back some memories. So today I’m going to share my strange but true story about Palmer.
Way back when, when Jesse was making me swoon by saying…WOW…I’d watch football just to see this guy. He was on this little show called “The Bachelor.”
To me, I thought he was the hottest Bachelor to ever be on the show. That was the first time I ever watched the entire season of “The Bachelor” and the last.
I was living in Indianapolis during the time that Jesse was on “The Bachelor.” I lived right along the canal next to Butler University.
One day, I decided to take my Alaskan Malamute “KUSH” out for a walk along the canal.
Now, Kush is a huge dog. At the time, he was the biggest dog on the canal. I would have to use my entire weight to try and control him to keep him from not bothering other people or their dogs. He could eat most of the dogs in the neighborhood for breakfast!
Well, on our stroll, Kush was looking around in the grass along the canal (he’d jump in if he realized that I didn’t have a strong hold on him). A really good looking athletic type guy was jogging towards me along the canal with his dog (without a leash).
I kept looking at the guy thinking, “Wow…this guy is really hot. He’s so hot…like Jesse…Palmer…hot…OMG…it is JESSE PALMER!”
Well, Jesse gets this huge flirtatious smile on his face as he draws nearer. He’s slowing down, getting ready to stop to talk to me. He waves and says hello. As he gets closer, Kush, realizing that I’m distracted…
GOES AFTER JESSE PALMER’S DOG!
Jesse jumps into the bushes on the other side of the path screaming, “WHOA!” I realize that my distraction with Jesse’s heavenly beauty has left me with little to no hold on Kush.
After snapping back into reality and attempting to grab what’s left of the leash, I start pushing Kush away from Palmer’s dog. I yell at Jesse, “Keep going, keep going!”
So Jesse and his dog take off down the trail.
What’s funny is that his dog…(it was an older dog) acted like it was nothing but just some annoying fan! KUSH!
But the story doesn’t end there…
Jesse makes it down to the end of the dirt trail where there’s some poles sticking out from the ground that separates the dirt trail from the road. He stops, turns around to let me know everything’s okay. He smiles and waves again, turns around to continue with his run and runs right SMACK into the pole.
I averted my entire head to try to keep from laughing. I was thinking…OMG, he must be so embarrassed…and would be even more embarrassed if he knew that I saw it!
So to save him from THAT extreme embarrassment, I pushed Kush along to walk down the trail. The funny thing is, Kush was smiling from ear to ear. I realized then and there…Kush was trying to play matchmaker.
So here’s the interesting part of the story. The reason why the Bachelor was in Indianapolis was because he was there to film the second to the last episode where the last two girls get to meet his family.
Ends up his parents lived one block away from me!
What are the odds?
Also, that exchange on the canal told me that he wasn’t interested in either woman that made it to the final round.
So the Jesse Palmer story doesn’t end there…
Later on…I moved to NYC. After the first couple of months in my new neighborhood, I was out walking around in my neighborhood and saw Jesse again on my block. I had to do a double take. I was thinking…NO…this can’t be!
But sure enough it was him.
After the Bachelor, he ended up in Canada and is now living not too far away from where I live now.
Strange coincidences? Oh, I sure as hell think so.
The last time I saw him, he just so happened to be taking a run in my neighborhood. Oddly enough, we ran into each other in my neighborhood in the exact same spot I saw him the time before.
Yes, it is strange. And just imagine my surprise yesterday when a Google search found that Jesse now works in the same industry as me!
The funny thing about all of these chance encounters with Palmer is this…his teammates used to make fun of him and say that he becomes a complete klutz when he’s around a girl that he likes. He really embarrasses the hell out of himself when he meets a girl he likes.
I was thinking about that while me and Kush were heading away from Palmer and his dog and heading to the bridge to finish our walk. I mean, how many professional athletes run smack dab into a pole after meeting a girl?
