Bachelor Nation is curious to learn more about Bryan Witzmann, a professional football player who's played for many teams in the NFL and will now be competing for Michelle Young's love on The Bachelorette season 18. Historically, there have been dozens of former professional athletes who came into The Bachelor franchise looking for love. Many of them were very successful in their original seasons, and some even managed to land subsequent spots as leads of The Bachelor or cast members on Bachelor In Paradise.
In recent years, many of the pro athletes seen in The Bachelor franchise have made headlines. Of note, football player Dale Moss fell in love with Clare Crawley during their first night on The Bachelorette season 16 and chose to quit the show straightaway. In 2021, football player and The Bachelor season 23 lead Colton Underwood came out to the world as a gay man. Other noteworthy athletes in the franchise include football players Ryan Sutter, Sean Lowe, and Jesse Palmer, as well as race car driver Arie Luyendyk, Jr. and soccer player Juan Pablo Galavis.
Now, Bryan Witzmann is entering Michelle's season of The Bachelorette as a pro athlete with a very impressive career. According to NFL.com, Bryan's professional career started in 2016 when he played for the Kansas City Chiefs. He then went on to play for the Chicago Bears in 2018 and the Carolina Panthers in 2019. Bryan reportedly came back to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, only to then transfer to the Atlanta Falcons in 2021. Stats-wise, Bryan plays as a guard and is described as 6'7" and 320 lbs. Coming into The Bachelorette, Bryan is introducing himself as a 31-year-old NFL player from Houlton, Wisconsin.
As seen in the Instagram posts included above, Bryan has had a long and successful career in the NFL. On his Instagram profile, Bryan describes himself as an "8-year NFL vet, civil engineering grad, and MBA candidate." He also considers himself a "political junkie, world traveler, and amateur chef." Despite being originally from Wisconsin, Bryan started playing college football on a professional level at South Dakota State University. He is certainly one of the professional athletes with the longest careers to have ever entered the Bachelor Nation field. While sports careers have helped contestants in the past, there's never any guarantee that they'll resonate with the lead or with the viewers.
Fans will surely keep an eye out for Bryan as he plays the field and tries to win over some attention from Michelle Young on The Bachelorette. In any case, she will be meeting 30 guys on night one, so Bryan will have tough competitions. Hopefully, his competitive side will work to his advantage.
The Bachelorette season 18 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Sources: Bryan Witzmann/Instagram, NFL.com