Wondering About the Wonderlic?

ITexas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel reportedly scored a 30 on the wonderlic test–the highest score of any of the top quarterbacks in the NFL draft pool.

Wow!  That’s impressive!  I guess that means he will be the best quarterback to play in the NFL out of this draft class, right? 

HA!  Hardly.

The Wonderlic test is a test that was developed by Stevie Wonder and…no, that’s not true.  Sorry.  I couldn’t resist.

No, the Wonderlic was created in 1938 by Eldon F. Wonderlic, and is a popular group intelligence test that is given to NFL players at the annual combine.  The test is designed to measure cognitive abilities in the areas of math, vocabulary and reasoning.  It is a timed test, where respondents get 12 minutes to answer 50 questions such as, “If a train is leaving Chicago at 3 pm and is traveling 40 miles per hour, and another train is leaving New York at 5 pm and is traveling 50 miles per hour, what time will they crash and explode into a huge fireball?”

Well, not exactly, but you get the idea.  The questions aren’t a piece of cake.  The thing that surprised me was, none of them had anything to do with football!

I am not sure why NFL talent evaluators put any stock at all in this test, but they seem to.  We hear about players scores every year–both high and low, yet they have NOTHING to do with football playing ability.

I could care less if a player doesn’t know the correct synonym for the word “chide” if he can get to the quarterback in 2.3 seconds.

Do you wonder if success on the Wonderlic equates to football success?  Well, let us take a look at some of the history of the wonderlic, shall we?  

The highest score ever recorded was a perfect 50 by Pat McInally, who was a punter for crying out loud!

Mike Mamula, a pass rusher from Boston College, who was a high draft pick of the Eagles, scored a near perfect 49.  He turned out to be a colossal disappointment.  Ryan Fitzpatrick, a quarterback for the Rams, Bengals, Bills and Titans, also scored a 49, but was a below average signal caller.  Ben Watson and Kevin Curtis each scored a 49.  One turned out to be a disappointing tight end, and the other, an average wide receiver.

Meanwhile, Morris Claiborne scored a 4, which didn’t stop him from being a top ten pick, and a probable future pro-bowler.  One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Dan Marino, reportedly scored a 15.  Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw didn’t let a 16 on the Wonderlic slow him down.  Ray Lewis, one of the best middle linebackers in history, got a 13.

See what I mean?  The Wonderlic is meaningless.  Just because Johnny Manziel scored a 30 does not mean success.  He is too small, too erratic, and too undependable to be a great quarterback in the NFL.  Scoring a 30 on the Wonderlic doesn’t mean he can read a defense.

At least he can say he beat me.  I need to go and take the darn thing again.  I need to break my tie with Tim Tebow and his 22.  I may not be able to reach Johnny Football, but I know I can do better than THAT.