Sam Buttrey's age fell into question after the . A fan on noticed that on the podcast, Sam said: “Some of us are from the days when the didn't have a Kazakhstan." The fan went on to argue: "Now on one hand, the USSR never had a Kazakhstan, the area we know as the country changed its name from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to Kazakhstan when it left the USSR .
.. but the USSR had a Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic up until December 16, 1991, going back to .
.. 1925! Is Sam 100 years old?" They clarified that the question wasn't serious and they were simply joking around.
"I don’t think Sam is 100 years old, nor do I care to really know how old he is," wrote the Redditor. "I’ll just say he’s the same age as Steve Martin - was just something I chuckled at while listening to the pod." Another user pointed out this wasn't the first comical swipe taken at Sam's age.
The first came from host Ken Jennings himself. During Season 1 of Jeopardy! Masters, the contestants' Final Jeopardy! question fell under the category "The First Millennium." "Cast your minds all the way back," Ken said, adding, "That's old even for you, Sam" which was met with a laugh from Sam and the live audience alike.
Based on that joke, a fan noted, "We can conclude he is less than 1,024 years old." Another pushed back against the original posters comparison to Steve Martin, saying Sam was "much younger." After a quick Google search, they concluded that he was 63/64 which is quite different that Steve.