Ex-Florida QB Jesse Palmer talks College Football Playoff, French-onion beer, and Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward
Jesse Palmer had the best view of one of the College Football Playoff games this month, being in the broadcast boost for the Peach Bowl between No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 Texas.
The Longhorns were big favorites, and each of the previous games of the playoff were not particularly close - so, the pressure was on the Sun Devils.
They ultimately delivered a classic, as the Longhorns needed double-overtime to get to the semifinal. However, Palmer himself still thinks there needs to be "some tweaking" to the seeding format.
"I think conference champions should get in. I don't think they should be given an automatic bye, though, in the quarterfinal. It just felt like to me, just as a fan of college football, watching Oregon play Ohio State and watching Georgia play Notre Dame, those felt like semifinal matches to me and not necessarily quarterfinal matches," Palmer said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
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"Now Arizona State, to me, is one of the greatest stories this year in all of college football. A team that was 3-9 last year and went through all the NCAA sanctions and everything they had to go through, remarkable year, Cam Skattebo easily one of the best players in college football … It was incredible how well they played. They belonged on the field with Texas. No doubt about it … I still think there's some tweaking needed in the College Football Playoff format, but if you just look at Arizona State specifically as that team specifically, they're easily talented and nothing good enough to get to the semifinal, no question."
Ultimately, Texas dropped their semifinal matchup to Ohio State on Friday night, but Palmer says Quinn Ewers faced plenty of uphill battles throughout the year.
"I give Quinn Ewers a ton of credit. It's so hard as a quarterback not to look over your shoulder. There’s so much hype surrounding Arch Manning when he showed up, right? And Arch Manning played so well in the two and a half games that Quinn Ewers was injured, and then all of a sudden, midway through the season, they lose to Georgia. There were a lot of people that wanted a quarterback switch," Palmer said.
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Palmer dealt with a similar situation at Florida, where he was on the same roster as Rex Grossman and top recruit Brock Berlin.
"I'm sitting there thinking to myself, ‘If I throw an interception, or we lose a game, I'm gonna lose my job.’ And to Quinn Ewers’ credit, he's just put his head down, he just keeps playing," Palmer said.
Now, the national championship is a week away, and the NFL playoffs are underway. The viewing parties are on, and that is why Palmer has partnered with Helluva Good Dips to make sure football fans are eating well this time of year.
"This is my favorite time of the year. It's a time to get with friends and family and watch the big games, and I'm excited to be parting with Helluva Good to really raise and take the big game experience of viewing party to the next level," Palmer said. "Helluva Good dips are a staple in my house, they have been for a long, long time and certainly at viewing parties as well. And it won't be any different this year. College Football Playoff, the big game coming up in the NFL. There's going to be chips, dips, and beer. So there's that there's not a better combination than that."
The dip brand has partnered with Harpoon Brewery to make a French-onion flavored beer, which is right up Palmer's alley.
"This is like Jimmie Johnson, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin in the Super Bowl," Palmer quipped. "French-onion dip is my favorite Helluva Good dip, so that's that part, and it just so happens that Harpoon IPA is my favorite flavor in beer, and this is kind of like a combination of the two. And when people try this, they're going to be blown away. It's incredible."
In a couple of months, the chips, dip and beer will be back for the NFL Draft, where at the moment, it seems that Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward will be the top-two selections. A lot can change, but Palmer does not see anyone else sneaking into those picks, and teams will have to be aggressive if they want a quarterback.
"Shedeur is unbelievably athletic. I'd say he's unbelievably accurate and probably a bit more dangerous from the pocket. Cam is a guy that’s a bit better off-schedule, but I think is just a natural passer and has the X-factor…" Palmer said. "There may be some movement and some ammo needed to to move up to get to get snag one of those guys."
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