Replacing first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre couldn’t have been easy for Aaron Rodgers. But that was likely much easier when compared with his next assignment: filling in as Jeopardy! host.
Rodgers is one of many athletes and celebrities who will try their turn behind Alex Trebek’s lectern. And make no mistake about it, that is still his podium even if Trebek died in October. Rodgers episode of Jeopardy! will air on April 5.
This isn’t the Super Bowl winning quarterback’s first time on that set. He earned $50,000 for charity when he won the celebrity version of Jeopardy! in 2015. And he’d always hoped to return to the show, but not under these circumstance.
“I loved it. I had a blast,” he said recently in an interview. “Jeopardy!, that was one thing that I was really looking forward to after the season. … I wanted to come back and play. Under the circumstances with Alex unfortunately succumbing to cancer, I haven’t, but I was really honored to be there. I feel like I did justice to his memory and tried to handle myself with as much respect for the job as possible because I love the show and the show meant so much to so many of us who grew up watching it every night.”
Rodgers’ fiancée, actress Shailene Woodley, recently vouched for his Jeopardy! obsession during an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“I don’t know him as a football guy,” the 29-year-old said. “I know him as the nerd who wants to host Jeopardy! That’s the dude I know. He just happens to also be very good at sports.”
Favre also thinks Rodgers would make a great Jeopardy! guest host.
“He’ll do a wonderful job,” Favre said of his former rival. “Now, will he be an Alex Trebek? I don’t know if there ever will be another Alex Trebek.”
Aaron Rodgers Says He Dreams of Being a Father
Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have any children, but it’s something he thinks about often. Though those dreams are destinations with far-off shorelines, he quickly admits. With his career likely coming to an end in the next few seasons and his pending nuptials, Rodgers said he’s been thinking about what he hopes to accomplish next.
“Well, I think the next great challenge will be being a father,” he said in the interview. “Maybe not in the immediate future but definitely something that I really look forward to. It’s going to be a really fun challenge. I’ve done a pretty good job of taking care of myself for the last 37 years and look forward to taking care of another life. I just think it’d be so fun. I have dreamt about what that would be like and I’m really excited about that chapter, whenever that comes.”
Rodgers may be planning for his future, but he isn’t ignoring his present. He recently won his third NFL MVP and took his Packers to the NFC Championship Game but lost to the Patriots. He’s currently engaged to an A-List Hollywood celebrity, and a budding and quite cute friendship with Jodie Foster.
