Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen scored two touchdowns in a “Monday Night Football” victory over the Chicago Bears. He also scored the hearts of many with his tribute to late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek.
Thielen rocked custom Adidas cleats last night for the ESPN NFL game’s pregame warmups. On one side was an illustration of Trebek with an angel’s halo. On another, “We Will Miss You, Alex” drawn in a Final Jeopardy! box. The wager? $19,000, which seems to be a reference to Thielen’s jersey number 19.
Finally, Thielen’s white with gold accents cleats had “trebek” written under the Adidas logo. Both were “Jeopardy!” blue.
Trebek passed away on Sunday, Nov. 8 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Jean, and children Matthew, Emily, and Nicky.
His final “Jeopardy!” episode will air on Christmas Day. Trebek last taped episodes on Oct. 29.
See the American football star Thielen’s spikes at the bottom of this story, and find plenty more tributes to the Canadian game-show host Trebek here and here.
Trebek revealed in March 2019 that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, but vowed to battle the disease. The news of his diagnosis came just months after Trebek renewed his contract with Sony Pictures Television to stay on as host of “Jeopardy!” through 2022. After undergoing treatment, Trebek announced in May that he was in “near remission.”
He returned to hosting “Jeopardy!” that August, but announced in September that he was undergoing chemotherapy again after revealing that he lost a large amount of weight and his “numbers went sky high.”
In October, he vowed to keep hosting the show “as long as my skills do not diminish” but also admitted that he was “nearing the end of that life.” In November, he filmed a global public service announcement for World Pancreatic Day, saying, “I wish I had known sooner that the persistent stomach pain that I experienced prior to my diagnosis was a symptom of pancreatic cancer.”
For #MNF pregame tonight my guy @athielen19 will be honoring the legend Alex Trebek who passed last week. I feel like no matter where you were from I feel like Jeopardy was a part of all of our lives in some way. 🙏 #skol pic.twitter.com/1itrgOM4M8
— Mache (@MACHE275) November 16, 2020
And don’t worry about Thielen’s own money being in jeopardy: The NFL has not fined players for wearing custom cleats during pregame warmups for years now.
Thielen wore his regular, NFL-approved spikes for the actual game itself, which the Vikings won 19-13.