After celebrating many years as Jeopardy!'s winningest champion, Ken Jennings was able to step up and take possession of an even bigger crown by winning the Jeopardy Greatest of All Time tournament in 2020, beating out fellow trivia geniuses James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter. Jennings' game show prowess is so strong that he easily became the first guest host that producers confirmed to take over frontman duties in the wake of Alex Trebek's death. So it's only natural that Jennings decided to speak out after this weekend's Super Bowl LV inspired plenty of "Is Tom Brady the pro sports GOAT?" debates.
Ken Jennings shared a video from ESPN's fantasy football analyst Matthew Berry that raised the question of whether or not Tom Brady's record-breaking win at Super Bowl LV was enough to put him over as the greatest athlete of all time. That video, like many others of the sort, sparked a bunch of different opinions on the matter. But unlike any others, Berry's post got a reply from Jennings, who said:
That's such a baller response. Jennings hilariously showcased some fake humility with his answer by not flat-out claiming GOAT status over Tom Brady. The champ is presumably willing to concede that if Jeopardy! isn't considered a sport, then he isn't properly the GOAT in that area. HOWEVER...if Jeopardy! counts, then Jennings is here to put someone in a DDT while snatching the golden GOAT championship belt to hold high above his head. Or, you know, whatever kind of golden accessories that can be flaunted.
Of course, Jeopardy!'s status as a game show, and not a sports show, likely disqualifies Ken Jennings from GOAT-dom even before any other level of debate can be had. Some might call the series mental gymnastics, but that's more of a metaphor than anything. And considering how terribly Jeopardy! contestants have been with sports categories in the past, it's probably best to keep the two entities separate.
In recent weeks, Ken Jennings proved himself to be a worth successor to Alex Trebek, as evidenced by his professional candor, his knowledge of the game, and his consistent praise of the icon who came before him. It'll be interesting to see how his temporary reign compares to those of Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, Dr. Oz and Jeopardy!'s other upcoming guest hosts.
While the aforementioned sports debate will no doubt rage on for as long as people have voices to yell with and fingers to tweet with, I think most of us would easily agree that the real GOAT in all of this is Alex Trebek himself.
