Colin Cowherd ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd ties low intelligence test score to NFL player arrests.
At each year’s Scouting Combine, the NFL makes all of the top “draft prospects” sit down and take the fabled “Wonderlic Test” – a “50-question” quiz with a “12-minute” time limit meant to measure a athletes’ “overall intelligence, problem-solving skills and basic reasoning skills.”
The number of questions answered “correctly” is your score, “plain and simple”.
The best way to “describe” the questions is that they are similar to those found on the “SAT” test. In my experiences, players who struggled “academically” had trouble with this test.
The test isn’t necessarily a “direct” predictor of success at the pro level, and each team places their own “value” on the scores when building out their “draft board” … but in some cases, the Wonderlic scores can “raise” a red flag.
On his radio show Monday morning, ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd “defended” the use of the Wonderlic intelligence test by the NFL, pointing out that it is not only a predictor of “on-field success”, but is also a predictor for “off-field behavior.”
Prompted by the news that 27 NFL players have been “arrested” this off season, Cowherd discussed the “usefulness” of the test, and “railed” against the mainstream media’s charges that the test is “racist.”
“I don’t know why the media in the last couple years goes Whoa!”
It’s not a “race” thing, it’s a “maturity” thing. It goes across all lines. Maturity is what I want to know at 21. “Do you have your act together today, because I have to pay you 21 million guaranteed,” Cowherd said.
The “Wonderlic Test” is used by groups, including the military, to assess “mental” aptitude in a “time-pressured” setting.
For example, the “median” score in 1983 for a systems analyst was a 32, a reporter was 28, a security guard was 17, and a 10 was the “bare-minimum for being literate.”
Conversation about the test and its possible “racist” design heightened in March 2012 when it was “revealed” that Morris Claiborne had scored a “four”, and saw his draft stock “plummet” accordingly. He now plays “corner back” for the Dallas Cowboys.
Morris Claiborne
While a quarterback or offensive lineman who does “poorly” on this test should definitely be a “concern”, positions like CB and WR – that are mainly based on “instinct and reaction” – are probably less “impacted” by a low Wonderlic.
So this probably isn’t as “big of a deal” as some people are going to make it out to be for Claiborne.
Among those who view it “racist” is Professor Jason Chung of McGill University, who wrote in a paper that “Another major barrier that African-American quarterbacks face stems from the increased use of the Wonderlic intelligence test through 1968 to 1999.”
Wonderlic, he said, “like all aptitude tests, is culturally biased and therefore systemically set up to ensure that black athletes receive lower scores.”
31 NFL players have committed crimes, been arrested and face jail time, been fired and worse during the 2012 – 2013 NFL off-season.
“There have 27 NFL players arrested this off season,” Cowherd said. “It’s a lot of players … Now there have been 655 guys, since 2000, arrested in this league … Here’s what I really noticed, out of all these arrests, this is the one thing I go back to: What positions have been arrested the most and what positions have been arrested the least?
Well, arrested the most: Wide receiver, defensive back, defensive line, and linebacker. Those guys get arrested the most. Who gets arrested the least? Tight ends, offensive line and quarterbacks. Well, what do you know, the lowest Wonderlic scores get arrested the most and the highest Wonderlic scores get arrested the least. So dumb guys get arrested more often. Shocker.”
During my NFL days, we performed a study on the Wonderlic Test scores of all active players. The NFL average on first attempts was 20.4, “with offensive centers averaging the highest score (26) and running backs averaging the lowest (17). Quarterbacks boasted an average of 25, and the other positions broke down as follows: offensive tackle (22.5), offensive guard and tight end (22), safety and linebacker (21), defensive end (20), defensive tackle and fullback (19), corner back and wide receiver (18).”
Of all the players I was “around” during my 29-year career in the NFL, I cannot remember “anyone” who scored more than 20 and had “trouble” learning our system – “regardless of position.”
Players who scored “less” than 20 were not necessarily “unable” to learn our system, but I always thought it was a “red flag” when a player scored in the teens. Not an “absolute” indicator that the player can’t learn, “but” a concern.
When that happened, we would “explore” other avenues to find out if the player would be able learn our system and determine “football intelligence” through these methods:
1. Asking the player’s college coaches about his learning ability.
2. Having our coaches devise a blackboard test purely covering football.
3. Watching tape to see if they routinely made mistakes.
4. And finally, administering the Wachs-Berger Test. (This test, designed by Harry Wachs and Ron Berger, did not consist of any reading or writing. And we found the test to be the most accurate predictor of a player’s ability to learn our system.)
We never “relied” on just one of these methods – “everything” factored in.
Regardless of “raw” intelligence, I found the single most important “characteristic” in determining whether a player will fit into your system is his “desire” to learn.
However, a player’s “ability” to learn a system is only “half” the story. Often, “less” intelligent players have trouble “managing” their lives off the field. And of course, “off-field issues” can affect “on-field performance.”
Player “aptitude” is important, both “on and off” the field.
At the end of the day, the “Wonderlic Test” is a helpful evaluation tool, but it is “certainly” not foolproof.
A low Wonderlic score shouldn’t necessarily “scare” teams off, and there have been plenty of “less-than-bright” athletes who have had successful careers in the NFL.
Last year’s top CB Patrick Peterson only scored a 9, and had a tremendous “rookie” season. Wide Receivers AJ Green (10) and Hakeem Nicks (11) aren’t exactly “rocket scientists” either, and have “turned out” alright.
Pro Football Weekly has gotten a hold of the Wonderlic scores for this year’s NFL draft prospects. Wikipedia has an interesting “breakdown“ of average scores by position and other careers.
So basically, it’s an “intelligence” test for football players. And let’s face it, football ain’t exactly “brain” surgery.
There have been “heaps” of players over the years who can’t speak in “sentences” and have the common “sense” of a doorknob, but are “great” football players.
True to form, many “great” players through the years have had better “football” intelligence than “book” smarts, as Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino reportedly scored a 16 on the Wonderlic, Terry Bradshaw 15 and potential Hall of Famer Donovan McNabb 14.
Still, you have to “believe” that if it comes down to two players who are “equal” in every other way, you’d prefer to have the guy with a better “head” on his shoulders.
Vince, you’re sure that’s your final answer?
Especially at QB, OL, LB or S. Vince Young famously scored a 6 on the Wonderlic, and we’ve seen how well that’s turned out.
Oh, and in case you’re “interested”, you can take a sample Wonderlic Test, to see how “you’d” compare.
A few standouts from the 2009 draft class (scores are on a scale of 50):
Matt Stafford, QB Georgia – 35
Mark Sanchez, QB USC – 28
Knowshawn Moreno, RB Georgia – 13
Chris “Beanie” Wells, RB Ohio St – 22
Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech – 15
Percy Harvin, WR Florida – 12
Jeremy Maclin, WR Missouri – 25
Jason Smith, OT Baylor – 23
BJ Raji, DT Boston College – 19
Aaron Curry, LB Wake Forest – 26
Rey Maualuga, LB USC – 15
