Alex Trebek, who hosted the game show “Jeopardy” from 1984 through 2020, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday. He was 80. Trebek was an outstanding host and television personality in every dimension, and he also had a particular love for football, which sometimes showed in his frustration when “Jeopardy” contestants — who have to have a formidable base of knowledge to get even close to getting on that show — came up short in their football understanding.
In particular, the above example, in which none of the three contestants knew to answer the challenge, “By signaling for one of these, a returner can reel in a kick without fear of getting tackled,” by asking, “What is a fair catch?”
“These people are really stupid,” Trebek said when asked by NFL Films’ Charissa Thompson what his thoughts were when everybody drew a blank. “Even though they’re here competing on ‘Jeopardy.’ The categories are the determining factor, really, to your success as a contestant on ‘Jeopardy.’ It wasn’t their category.”
And when nobody knew who the “Purple People Eaters” were… well, Trebek’s facial expression was classic.
“We’ve had categories where no one rang in, but very, very seldom.” Trebek told Thompson.
There’s also awesome footage of Aaron Rodgers as a contestant.
