Aaron Rodgers Makes ‘Jeopardy!’ Hosting Debut

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers performed well on the first day of his two-week stint guest hosting Jeopardy! However, one of the contestants did have a little fun at Rodgers’ expense.

Two-day champion Scott Shewfeld was in a distant second place to challenger Brandon Deutsch going into Final Jeopardy. Unable to catch the leader, he went for a laugh by writing, “Who wanted to kick that field goal?” as his question. This was a reference the Packers’ playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game. In that game, Green Bay went for a field goal despite trailing by eight points in the fourth quarter. The move was heavily criticized since the Packers never got possession of the ball again.

Rodgers was clearly caught off guard by the witty answer. However, after a moment, he recovered after the laughter in the studio died down. “That’s a real good question, Scott,” he said, “but it’s not the right one here.”

Rodgers is not the first athlete to host a game show. Michael Strahan has done a terrific job helming ABC’s prime-time revival of The 100,000 Pyramid. However, Rodgers is coming off an MVP caliber season and does not seem ready to hang up his cleats just yet. He has said, however, that he wouldn’t mind being the quizmaster on a more permanent basis.

Rodgers was no stranger to the Jeopardy! set before signing on as a guest host. He appeared as a celebrity contestant in 2015, winning his match against astronaut Mark Kelly and Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary.

Rodgers opened his first show with a heart-felt tribute to long-time host Alex Trebek, who died of pancreatic cancer last November at the age of 80.

“I was in awe,” Rodgers said of appearing with Trebek, adding he was hoping to carry on his legacy. 

Rodgers will continue to guest-host the game show for the next two weeks. It appears Jeopardy! Is in very good hands.