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‘Jeopardy!’ Legend Brad Rutter Is Missing Alex Trebek on First Anniversary of His Passing

Brad Rutter added his name to the list of Jeopardy! contestants to post on social media regarding the one-year anniversary of Alex Trebek’s death.

If you love Jeopardy! as much as we do here at Outsider then it goes without saying that Brad Rutter is one of the legends of the show. As it currently stands, Rutter has won more than $5.1 million in game-show winnings. That figure puts him in second place all-time only behind fellow Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings. With that said, Rutter is still the all-time highest-earning contestant on Jeopardy! having won an astounding $4,938,436.

He took to his official Twitter account on Monday afternoon to post a heartfelt message on the one-year anniversary of Alex Trebek’s passing. In addition, he is asking fans to donate to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

“I’m missing Alex Trebek a little extra today, on the one year anniversary of his passing to #pancreaticcancer,” Rutter captioned a photo of him and the late Jeopardy! host. “Join me in honoring him with a donation to @PanCAN, who provides free resources and support to patients and their families.”

Meanwhile, Jeopardy! fans were a little emotional to start the day as well. After all, it’s not just the show’s legends who were impacted by Alex Trebek. He had millions of fans around the world.

“I had a Facebook memory reminding me and I got a little misty,” one of those fans replied. “I have also had friends and family suffer from this. Donations are so important for them to continue the work they are doing. Thanks for posting!!”

“Classy as always,” another Jeopardy! fan commented. “I think Alex would enjoy you hosting.”

“Never met the man, but I miss him terribly,” another person said.

“The man, the myth, the legend,” wrote a fellow Twitter user.

‘Jeopardy!’ Legend’s Favorite Memory of Alex Trebek

Let’s not fool ourselves here, Brad Rutter probably has countless fond memories of the late Alex Trebek. But there is one that sticks out more than the others. He explained as much in an interview with Vulture earlier this year.

“My favorite memory is also the most emotional. A bunch of us former contestants were in the audience for the last day of the season’s tapings in spring 2019, partly to deliver a scrapbook that the All-Stars had made for him, which he was very touched by. I took the opportunity to give him a personal note that I’d written and before the afternoon shows started.”

“…I got the call to go back to his dressing room to have a nice little chat for a few minutes. It was the first time I’d seen him not hosting the show since his diagnosis, and he definitely looked different — not sick or tired, exactly, but not absolutely normal and like nothing was wrong. He had on TV and onstage earlier, and it hit me that this could possibly be the last time I would see him. Fortunately it didn’t turn out that way, but none of us knew that at the time.”