Another "Jeopardy!" Champ Posted on June 3, 2022 at 09:26:37 PM by Trivia Geezer
Maybe you’ve heard of Ryan Long. He’s the 39-yr-old current “Jeopardy!” champion. If there has ever been a less-likely Jeopardy! champ than Ryan, I can’t imagine who it was.
Long previously worked for SEPTA, the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. In January 2021 he was hospitalized at Chestnut Hill Hospital for three weeks with a serious case of COVID-19. For a while, his doctors questioned whether he would survive. When he did recover, he found he could no longer handle the physical strain of his SEPTA job.
He ended up as a rideshare driver for Uber and Lyft, making any money he could to support himself and his 8-year-old-son. He admittedly has struggled with money since getting out of the hospital.
He needed help getting the cash together to buy his plane ticket to Los Angeles and he headed west with just two button-down shirts and two sweater vests. That is part of the lore of his champion run and makes it easy to root for him.
Long won his first five games squinting, because he had left his glasses at home, 3,000 miles away.
Education? Most of the other contestants have college degrees, and many have advanced degrees. Mr. Long was graduated from George Washington High School in the Northeast and has completed one year of community college. He reads a lot, and he knows a lot about sports and movies.
How far will he go? Who knows? He won his 16th consecutive game tonight, and he has $299,400 in winnings.