Aaron Rodgers nearly nabbed the hosting spot on “Jeopardy!” after impressing the show’s producers, but they had some concerns, according to Mike Richards, the show’s former producer and brief one-time host.
The star NFL quarterback was the “most prepared” of all the celebrity candidates who tried out to replace Alex Trebek in the winter and spring of 2021, Richards said in an interview published by People Wednesday. Rodgers also was clearly a fan of the iconic game show, Richards added. But despite getting high marks for his performance, the four-time NFL MVP was passed over.
And, no, Rodgers didn’t lose the “Jeopardy!” gig because he would soon reveal his interest in being brashly outspoken and conspiratorially-minded on a range of issues, starting with his staunch opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine in the middle of a global pandemic.
FILE – NOVEMBER 08: “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek has died at 80 years old after a battle with pancreatic cancer. WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 21: Alex Trebek speaks during a rehearsal before a taping of Jeopardy! Power Players Week at DAR Constitution Hall on April 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)
According to Richards, the “Jeopardy!” producers realized they couldn’t work with Rodgers because he wouldn’t come up with a plan to balance the job of hosting the game show with playing professional football. At the time, the Chico-reared, former Cal Golden Bears player was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.
“Aaron Rodgers was definitely the most prepared,” Richards said of Rodgers, who now plays with the New York Jets. “I was blown away by that, the intensity in which he prepped, and he was so lovely to everyone on staff. But ultimately I worried about his other job that he does on a pretty high level. I was like, ‘How are you going to work this out with football scheduling?’ He said, ‘You’ll figure it out!’”
Rodgers was tapped to guest host the iconic game show for two weeks in April 2021. following Trebek’s death in October 2020. Trebek announced in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer but continued to host while undergoing treatment.
Meanwhile, Richards, a longtime game show producer, was brought in to replace the show’s longtime producer Harry Friedman in 2020. Richards said there were ongoing discussions about people coming in to guest host if Trebek got too sick, but the beloved host kept working.
“I don’t think I will ever see anything like it again,” Richards told People about Trebek’s strength. “I’ve never seen someone in that much pain or that ill in my life, let alone going out and pitching five perfect games a day.”
After Trebek died in October 2020, Richards told People, the show’s executives decided to try out guest hosts, knowing they couldn’t just replace Trebek overnight.
“I actually thought we should just name a new host,” Richards says. “But when Alex passed away, it was hard on everyone. ‘Jeopardy!’ fans, the country. … There’s was a whole staff of people where he was the only boss they’ve ever known. He had a place in everyone’s heart, and while we all knew he was ill, his passing was very sudden, if that makes sense. It seemed to happen quickly. We were all legitimately in mourning.”
Richards also said that testing guest hosts would be a good way for them to understand the “Jeopardy!” audience and what was involved in the job.
The guest hosts included a who’s who of celebrities and TV news personalities: Katie Couric, Savannah Guthrie, Sanjay Gupta, Anderson Cooper, Mehmet Oz, Mayim Bialik, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton and Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Buck.
Richards also was included in the slate of guest hosts because he had his own previous on-air experience, according to People. He had hosted the reality show “Beauty & the Geek” as well as the “New Year’s Rocking Eve” in 2005, as well “Million Dollar Pyramid” and “Divided” on GSN.
In August 2021, it was announced that Richards would succeed Trebek as host of the daily show, while “The Big Bang Theory” star Bialik would host “Jeopardy!” primetime specials and spin-offs.
The choice of Richards was immediately controversial, as Richards himself acknowledged.
“No one was more surprised than me,” Richards told People. He knew that choosing him would be heavily scrutinized because it would appear that he had hired himself for the job.
It turned out that Richards only lasted one day of taping the show. A report from The Ringer revealed that he had said disparaging things about marginalized communities while hosting his podcast, “The Randumb Show,” in 2014. The Anti-Defamation League called for an investigation.
At the time, Richards cooperated with the ADL investigation and offered a public apology, saying in a statement: “It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago. Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry.”
At the same time, it was reported that Richards, while serving as executive producer for “The Price Is Right,” had been named in wrongful termination and discrimination lawsuits filed by the show’s models, People reported.
Richards said that lawsuits “insinuated” that he had been personally sued for sexual harassment, which wasn’t the case. He was ultimately dropped from the lawsuits. Still, the public relations damage had hardened public sentiment against him. Richards stepped down from “Jeopardy!,” telling People that the fallout from the controversy was both “painful and frightening” when it came to the hate that he and his family received.
The show eventually named Ken Jennings, a former contestant, to be host. The show, now in its 40th season, is one of TV’s longest-running game shows of all time.
Meanwhile, Rodgers grew into a divisive figure in American culture after revealing his anti-vaccination views in the fall of 2021. Just recently, he has been in the news over speculation that he was on the short list to be the running mate for the 2024 presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another public figure who promotes conspiracy theories about vaccines and other issues.
With the Kennedy news came a CNN report that Rodgers once privately shared the view that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre never happened. Rodgers issued a statement, insisting that he “was never of the opinion that the events did not take place.” But Rodgers has not issued a statement addressing his racist comments in a Feb. 23 podcast interview with Eddie Bravo, MSNBC reported. On the show, Rodgers promoted a claim, without evidence, that immigrants who speak Spanish or Chinese are looking to join the U.S. military and then potentially turn on the country, MSNBC reported.