Aaron Rodgers is the latest celeb to guest host “Jeopardy!”, an opportunity he calls “the honour of a lifetime.”
On Friday, “Jeopardy!” teased fans with a clip of Rodgers’ takeover of the show, which starts Monday April 5 and lasts through Friday April 16.
On Saturday, “Jeopardy!” released a full interview with Rodgers in which he talked about his love for the show and how, after playing — and winning — “Celebrity Jeopardy!” in 2015, he thought that hosting the show would be a “dream job.”
“When I came on the show in 2015 and got to do ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’, I just saw how special this environment was,” Rogers said. “I remember thinking, this would be like a dream job.”
The beloved show shared a sneak peek at Rodgers’ opening remarks ahead of his hosting debut Monday night.
“Alex was such a gentleman, so smart, so precise. I was in awe,” he recalled, “and I will work hard to honour his legacy.”
Guest host @AaronRodgers12 is honored to have shared the stage with Alex when he won #CelebrityJeopardy in 2015. pic.twitter.com/XRHQ7CetPQ
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) April 5, 2021
The Green Bay Packers quarterback added that “Jeopardy!” was his “favourite show” growing up, and that, “Other than the Super Bowl, this is the honour of a lifetime.”
Hosting the iconic trivia show is a tall order for anyone given they must follow in the footsteps of Alex Trebek, who passed away last year. Rodgers, however, is no stranger to being compared to the greats. “Following in the footsteps of a legend is something I know a little bit about,” Rodgers said, seemingly referring to the Packers’ previous quarterback, Brett Favre.
Rodgers also says there’s actually a lot of similarities between being a great football player and being a great host. “The key to being football smart is to focus,” the says. “And the key to really being good at hosting is that same focus.”
Rodgers has also approached his hosting gig with as much prep work as he does in the run up to a big game. He recently told ESPN, “I watched hours and hours and hours of episodes.” He added, “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,” Rodgers continued. “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 money earned by contestants during his stint will be matched to benefit small businesses and, specifically, the North Valley Community Foundation.
Rodgers takes over on Monday after Dr. Mehmet Oz’s run as guest host. After Rodgers, other celebs including Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie and Mayim Bialik will step into the hosting role.
