Did you know, that NFL scouts take the decision-making skills of quarterbacks very seriously? The league requires that every player in the draft take the Wonderlic intelligence test, which is essentially a shorter version of the standard IQ test. The test is 12 minutes long and the questions get progressively harder as the test goes along.
The underlying thesis of the Wonderlic test for quarterbacks is that those players who are better at math and logic problems will make better decisions in the pocket. As a result, an NFL team starts to get nervous when a quarterback’s score on the Wonderlic test is too far below the average for the position. For quarterbacks, the average is 25. In comparison, the average score for computer programmers is 28. Janitors, on average, score 15, err … as do running backs (no joke).
Here are some results of the Wonderlic test: Eli Manning – 39, Tom Brady – 33, Steve Young – 33, John Elway – 30, Troy Aikman – 29, Brett Favre – 22, Randdell Cunningham -15, and Vince Young, who created a small stir last year when it was rumored that he scored a 6.
Are you smarter than Tom Brady? Find out and take the Wonderlic test. But first, set your clock for 12 minutes, don’t peek at the answers, and … oh, yeah, run the 40 and give us some bench-presses first, would ya?
Source: A book that I’m reading entitled: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer.
I’d like to wish all of my loyal readers a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
