SEATTLE — Ken Jennings just won big — no, it’s not cash from winning another “Jeopardy!” game show, but arguably something better for the Edmonds-born Seattleite: a customized Seattle Mariners jersey.

“I just signed a minor league contract!” joked Jennings, a well-documented M’s fan.

The jersey, along with a short video edited in the style of the show’s opening credits, was part of a special ceremony Tuesday afternoon by the Metropolitan King County Council to officially recognize the author and current host of “Jeopardy!” more than two decades after his stunning 74 consecutive wins on the show in 2004, where he won a grand total of $2,522,700.

“When it comes to local involvement, local charities — Ken Jennings is all in,” said Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer before welcoming Jennings to speak from a podium.

“I'm immensely proud to still be associated with ‘Jeopardy!’ this many years later,” Jennings told the council.

Accompanied by his wife, Mindy, the trip to the King County Courthouse was a short one for Jennings, who lives with his family in Seattle. But the trip to Culver City, California, where “Jeopardy!” is taped every week, is a different story.

“Even though we tape ‘Jeopardy!’ in L.A., I commute,” he said. “I fly down every few weeks. We do five shows in a day. That's kind of the secret — as soon as one game ends, I rush backstage and put on a new tie.”

While he racks up Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles, Jennings has no plans to move away from the Emerald City.

“I can still live here in my favorite place on Earth, here in beautiful Seattle, Washington,” he said. “It does leave me time to still be part of the Seattle community and help out where I can.”

Helping out includes supporting local pancreatic cancer research and serving on the board of directors for Scarecrow Video. Jennings has shopped at the latter for 25 years, and credits much of his success on Jeopardy! to the education he received from watching films from Scarecrow.

Living in Seattle also means being privy to the sports fever that’s enveloped the city for the past year. While Jennings said he’s a Mariners fan first and foremost, he’s also part of the 12th Man. When asked how he felt about the Seahawks clinching the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the conference, Jennings recalled the special bond he formed with his son while attending games during the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2014 and 2015. “I'm a big believer in this team and this defense, and I think it's going to be another Super Bowl (for us),” he said in an interview after the ceremony.

Jennings also alluded to the Seahawks hype as a possible inspiration for future “Jeopardy!” trivia questions: “I think often when Seattle stuff gets slipped into ‘Jeopardy!,’ it is done in hopes that (Seattleites) will notice.” (Just make sure you’re well-versed on Seattle lingo, though, because Jennings isn’t afraid to correct you if you’re wrong, as he did in May when a contestant said “Pike’s Place” instead of “Pike Place.”)

As Jennings embarks on his third year as the sole host of “Jeopardy!” — a job he says he can happily continue for decades to come — he reflected on what it means to be a part of one of America’s most beloved game shows.

“‘Jeopardy!’ is kind of a cultural institution,” he said. “It's just so nice that there is this half-hour every night where ‘Jeopardy!’ has a huge and diverse audience. … It's kind of the one remaining public space where everyone kind of agrees that facts matter. You know that questions have the right answers, or in ‘Jeopardy!’s case — answers have the right questions. I’m proud we do that on the airwaves today.”

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