Aaron Rodgers didn’t take for granted his opportunity to host the legendary game show “Jeopardy!”
Instead of breaking down film of defenses, the Green Bay Packers quarterback went back to the tape to watch former host Alex Trebek, who passed away last year.
Rodgers told Rob Demovsky of ESPN that he studied for “hours and hours” and took “pages and pages” of notes to prepare for his two-week stint as a guest host of the show. Rodgers’ 10 episodes, which were filmed in February, begin airing on Monday, April 5.
“I watched hours and hours and hours of episodes,” Rodgers told ESPN. “Luckily Netflix has a few seasons, and I went back to DVR. But I had to watch from a different perspective — from Alex’s perspective. I couldn’t watch it as a fan anymore…I took pages and pages and pages of notes. I wrote down every affirmative that he said to any type of clue. I wrote down how he would respond if they didn’t get it right. I wrote down beat points of the show. I wrote down all the different ways he would take it to break. I wrote down the stuff that he said coming out of break. Literally, I studied for this like no other. I wanted to absolutely just crush it.”
All the preparation must have paid off. Even during the practice episode, Rodgers hit the ground running.
The 2020 NFL MVP, Rodgers is a long-time fan of the show and an admirer of Trebek’s work as a host. He also won an episode of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” in 2015.
The game show has used several guest hosts since Trebek’s passing. Rodgers is following Ken Jennings, Mike Richards, Katie Couric and Dr. Mehmet Oz. His shows will air from April 5-16. Anderson Cooper will follow.
Rodgers’ goal was to be as prepared as possible to step into Trebek’s shoes.
“..my whole thing was I felt like the best way to honor Alex’s memory was to be so dialed in and so ready, and that’s the approach I took,” Rodgers said, via ESPN. “So I was ready to rock and roll.”
