Rashad Jennings had a fine career as an NFL running back. He rushed for 3,772 yards over eight seasons and made nearly $10 million. Not bad for a seventh round pick. Jennings also won a season of Dancing with the Stars and appeared on Guy Fieri’s Guy’s Grocery Games – Game Day Super Teams. He’s a success by any measure — except as a Wheel of Fortune contestant.
During a recent all former-NFL players episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Jennings faced a puzzle with all but one letter on the board: “Driving to Reno with _uentin Tarantino.” Instead of filling in the blank with a “Q,” he guessed “P,” as in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director Puentin Tarantino. Jennings is used to being booed — he played for the New York Giants, after all — but he probably didn’t expect the Wheel of Fortune studio audience to groan at his guess.
Jennings explained what the heck was going through his mind during Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “Well, what happened was, I was wrong,” he explained to host Jimmy Kimmel. “I had one of them things you like to call a brain fart, and it happened at the most inopportune time.” Jennings (who is starting a podcast about the experience) is a fan of Tarantino’s movies, but “when that happened and not having the first letter I was just like, uhhhh, brain fart. As soon as it popped up I knew.”
If I was a Wheel of Fortune contestant in that high-pressure situation, I might also forget my favorite Tarantino movie, which is obviously Kill Dill.
You can watch the Kimmel clip above.