‘Jeopardy!’: Meet Brad Rutter, ‘Greatest of All Time Contestant’

The Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time special features three contestants that have dominated the quiz show program: Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter. You’re likely familiar with Holzhauer, who most recently competed on Jeopardy! and won over $2 million in 32 games. Jennings’ name has also been synonymous with Jeopardy! ever since he appeared on the program back in 2004. But, who exactly is the third competitor, Rutter? He’s a Jeopardy! legend in his own right.

According to HollywoodLife, Rutter is Jeopardy!‘s all-time top earner as he has won over $4 million during his time on the program (between regular play and various tournaments over the years). He also has a great track record against one of his fellow competitors, Jennings. The two men have faced each other in four separate Jeopardy! tournaments and Rutter has beaten Jennings three out of the four of those times during the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005, the Battle of the Decades in 2014, and the All-Star Games in 2019.

Rutter is such an impressive Jeopardy! champ that Jennings has even posited that the all-time earner may win the Greatest of All Time special.

“He’s the best I’ve ever seen,” Jennings told Seattle Refined about Rutter. “I’ve played Brad in four different tournaments and he’s beat me three times. I’m like a perpetual second-place finisher to Brad. Somebody said, ‘Often a Bradsmaid, never a Brad’ which — that really hurt.”

As for what Rutter had to say about the competition, he believes that all three of the men are evenly matched.

“It’s really all about buzzer timing and knowledge, and all of us are pretty good at that,” he said, per MassLive.com. “Personality-wise, I think Ken is probably the jokiest of the three, like he throws little quips in, and I’m a little too focused. … James is also ready with the quips, but he’s got the analytical thing down, too.”

“But we all put a bunch of strategy into it,” Rutter added. But, when it comes to his own strategy, the champ, understandably, remained tight-lipped. Instead, he simply told the publication that they’ll have to “tune in to find out” how he’ll fare in the competition.

Given Rutter’s impressive Jeopardy! accolades, you’ll likely see him giving Holzhauer and Jennings a major run for their money on the special tournament.

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