Watching some of the best Jeopardy! contestants in recent memory square off in a best-of-three finale in the Tournament of Champions is a real treat for longtime fans of the show. But as anyone who has watched even a little bit of Jeopardy! can attest, sometimes even the best players struggle with sports questions.
Unless you’re a professional sports bettor, of course. But not everyone can be James Holzhauer, which is why it wasn’t a huge surprise when all three contestants whiffed on a question about a retired NFL quarterback. The moment came with the first answer in the Double Jeopardy round. Finalist Sam Buttrey picked the First-Time Responses category, and a video and photo of former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler showed up.
“The occupation at work seen on the left,” host Ken Jennings said while a knife is sharpened on screen. “Or the pro football retiree on the right”
That’s Jay Cutler, who played for 12 seasons in the NFL before retiring in 2017. He has also appeared quite a bit on TV as the former husband of reality star Kristin Cavallari. So it’s not like he’s a particularly obscure quarterback. Which is why it was very funny that the only guess at this $200 answer in Double Jeopardy was arguably a much more obscure quarterback.
“Tim Tebow?” incorrectly guessed Andrew He, who lead going into Final Jeopardy despite this answer. No one else decided to guess Cutler, which is a shame. But the rest of the game was a classic, with Amy Schneider capping off a major comeback to win with a clever low wager on a tough Final Jeopardy question.
You can watch the recap of Game 2 below.