LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Jeopardy!’ had made a grave mistake that had gone under the radar for a while. But people up the ladder finally decided to come clean and address their what went wrong. The mistake in question is the omission of one of the game show’s most successful contestants from the recently concluded ‘Jeopardy!’ Masters tournament which was won by James Holzhaeur. Fans believe that only one man could’ve got the better of James and that man is Brad Rutter. Rutter is undoubtedly one of the three most successful contestants ever, alongside Ken Jennings and James Holzhaeur.
Brad’s last appearance on ‘Jeopardy!’ was three years ago in 2020 when he participated in the famed GOAT Tournament. During this competition, Brad faced Ken and James in an ultimate showdown which was viewed by a record-breaking 14 million people. Ken defeated both James and Brad to take the crown but despite his victory, Brad still is the highest money winner of all time across any TV game show, with a total ‘Jeopardy!' earnings of $4,688,436, just a tinge ahead of Ken ($4.3million) and way ahead of James ($2.9million). His omission was expected to be questioned by the fans. And now, the show’s producer, Sarah Foss has finally addressed the issue in a podcast.
‘Prove that he deserves a spot’
Brad has been vocal in the past and admitted that he is willing to compete again. Sarah, one of the producers of ‘Jeopardy!’, appeared to have taken notice of Brad’s comments and admitted on the game show’s podcast that Brad needs to prove himself worthy of being a participant in the Masters competition next year. “Brad Rutter has made more money on Jeopardy! than any other contestant in history; those stats are so impressive. I know our listeners know we got this little thing called the JIT, the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament.”
JIT is a precursor to the Masters' tournament and will see former ‘Jeopardy!’ legends competing to earn a spot in next year's Masters. Sarah continued, "So what we now wanna see is, how is Brad right now? Can he come to the JIT, competing against some other greats, and prove that he deserves a spot as one of the current greats in Masters next year?” Sarah cleared all doubts regarding Brad’s position on ‘Jeopardy!’ and indicated that if he wants a place in the Masters' tournament, he needs to prove his mettle once again in JIT.
Brad Rutter in Masters Tournament is 'no-brainer'
After learning from Sarah about Brad’s position with ‘Jeopardy!’, many fans argued that he should get a direct pass to the Master's Tournament in 2024. One Reddit user said, “To me, Brad Rutter seems like a no-brainer. We all know that he did poorly at the GOAT and to be honest, I don’t particularly like his chances but if he wants to give it a try I say roll out the carpet for him.” Another wrote: “Brad has beaten Ken before, at least twice. The GOAT tournament was the first time he’d ever lost even a match in Jeopardy! He is also the top money winner in history. Come on man, there’s no question he deserves it if he wants to be back.”
The third user sealed the deal in Brad’s favor as he commented, “I can definitely see where you’re coming from regarding Brad potentially needing to prove himself but I would personally say that given all he’s achieved in Jeopardy it would be worth considering giving him the benefit of the doubt and putting him directly into the Masters if he wants it.”
