Just Curious...Wonderlic scores

[woodbuck27]

Here's a sample test. It's only 9 questions and supposedly easier than the original test - I got an 8/9 but not sure what that means...

http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/existence/wonderlic.html

Well that means you scored 89% and that means that. . .

YOU GET A GOLD STAR.

[woodbuck27]

Liccing My Wounds

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Posted: Tuesday April 17, 2001 5:49 PM


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Sensing that my stock wasn't rising in this weekend's NFL draft, noticing that Mel Kiper Jr. hasn't once appeared on my caller ID and realizing that my 40 times were a little slower than a few other so-called prospects, I put it all on the line. I agreed to a Wonderlic.

A Wonderlic has nothing to do with a) White House interns, b) how The Natural cleaned Wonderboy or c) a long-lasting treat for deer. It's the intelligence test that NFL teams rely on to help them decide on which players they're going to dump tuna boats full of $100 bills. Every player at the scouting combine takes the test, which lasts 12 minutes and consists of 50 questions, each harder than the one before it.

I coerced the people at Wonderlic Inc., a personnel testing company outside Chicago, into faxing me a copy of one of this year's six NFL tests so I could try it at home. They agreed only if I took the test under supervision and didn't give away the questions. My wife, Linda, stood by with a stopwatch and a spatula, in case I refused to stop.

I knew what I was up against. Only one person in 100,000 scores a perfect 50. The only NFL player to do it was former Cincinnati Bengals punter and Harvard grad Pat McInally, which explains why he chose to be a punter and not, say, a punt returner.

The average score for an NFL prospect is 19. The average score overall -- hundreds of corporations use the Wonderlic -- is 21. Last year Iowa State running back Darren Davis reportedly scored a 4. Now, of course, he's in Congress.

Teams aren't supposed to release the scores, but they're usually leaked anyway. Among quarterbacks Brian Griese is said to have scored a 39, Drew Bledsoe 37, Steve Young 33, John Elway 30, Troy Aikman 29, Cade McNown 28, Mark Brunell 22, Tim Couch 22, Trent Dilfer 22, Brett Favre 22, Daunte Culpepper 21, Vinny Testaverde 18, Dan Marino 16, Randall Cunningham 15 and Jeff George 10.

Kicker Sebastian Janikowski reportedly got a 9, though he offered $500 to the test proctor to give him a 10. (Kidding.)

This year Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer is said to have scored a 32, and TCU star running back LaDainian Tomlinson only had a 13.

Anytime your Wonderlic approaches your cleat size, it's not good.

I knew this was a risky career move. You can't rant and rave and stomp your feet every week about how right you are and then let people find out you really should be standing in an apron and a paper hat, going, "Care to try the McSuperCheese today?" So when Linda blew my coaching whistle six inches behind my right ear, I began. I realized right away why many players coming out of college suck on the Wonderlic. The questions aren't relevant. They need to be more like ...

You signed your contract last Thursday. Ethically, you can ask to renegotiate a) when it expires, b) after a big year, c) the Tuesday after next.

If Ray Lewis is in a Humvee limo going 95 mph and Rae Carruth is in a Toyota going 105, how high will Court TV's ratings go?

Paul Tagliabue is a) the NFL commissioner, b) dead, c) a and b.

The test fax was difficult to read. I asked my proctor if she would stop the clock and help me read one of the smudged numbers, but she only glared and fingered the spatula. Sweating, I was working on question 36 when the whistle about blew out my tympanum. She snatched up the test and faxed my answers to Wonderlic.

Ten minutes later two Wonderlic executives called back, on a speaker phone, laughing. "You missed the first question!" they roared. "We never see that!" The question was something like, The second-to-last month of the year is ..., and I'd answered, October. Still, I scored a 29.

I pleaded my case on the one math question, which was impossible to read because of the lousy fax, and they gave me credit for it, which meant I'd scored 30. Plus, according to Wonderlic, I get an age adjustment of two points because a 43-year-old's cognitive processing is slower than a 21-year-old's. That's 32. Finally, I gave myself one point for spatula stress -- 33.

All of which means, dear NFL scout, I would be a far better quarterback than Marino or Elway and at least as good as Young. I'm hearing the Cowboys might take me, now that Aikman's gone and they're in the market for a savvy, wizened leader.

"You might just be watching your husband playing in the Thanksgiving game this year," I said, satisfied.

"Great!" my wife said. "Would that be in October?"

Issue date: April 23, 2001

[GrnBay007]

spatula stress .......LOL

[woodbuck27]

On a related note, who is the smartest player on the Packers? My guess would be a blocking man, maybe Spitz or Henderson?

If I remember correctly, Aaron Rodgers had the highest score.

I bet YOU would do wonderful at the Wonderlic Test, GBRulz.

Aaron Rodgers scored 39 on his Wonderlic Test.

[woodbuck27]

Feb. 27, 2006, 12:34AM

False score gives Young wrong kind of buzz

UT QB's disputed Wonderlic grade talk of the combine


By JOHN MCCLAIN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS - Like his performance in the Rose Bowl, quarterback Vince Young rallied from a huge deficit to pull out a personal victory that might have earned him millions of dollars.

On Saturday, a rumor that Young had scored a 6 on the Wonderlic test sent shock waves through the combine. No coach, scout or general manager surveyed could produce an example of a starting quarterback with a single-digit Wonderlic score.

The test — 50 multiple-choice, non-football questions in 12 minutes — is a barometer that teams use to gauge a prospect's ability to learn.

On Sunday, the combine said the test score of 6 that was being reported by some media outlets was false.

"I've been told it was inaccurate by a source good enough for me to quote it," Texans general manager Charley Casserly said Sunday afternoon.

Young took the test again and scored 16. According to Young's agent, Major Adams, the Sunday test was administered by Jeff Foster, executive director of National Scouting Combine.

"The combine officials assured us that score (6) was false and that the accurate score will be known when the combine results are given to each team," Adams said.

Wonderlic scores are supposed to be confidential and are never confirmed publicly by the NFL. Because they are included in combine results given to teams after the combine, scores leak out.

"The number really doesn't mean anything to us because we go through a process of four or five other ways to evaluate it," Casserly said. "The number's insignificant to us in the end. It's the other areas that we put more weight on."

Prospects can take the Wonderlic tests as many times as they want.

"I heard about the 6," Tennessee general manager Floyd Reese said Sunday morning. "I heard the test was improperly given, and I heard they're going to try and correct it.

"It could be improperly given because of time. It could be improperly given because when you correct it, there are like six or seven different tests. If you correct Test A with a correct sheet for Test C, it's not going to come out very well."


Rose-tinted glasses
Many executives believe the Wonderlic test is culturally biased, which is the reason they administer other tests they believe more accurately test a player's intelligence.

"I've seen players test in single digits and play 10 years, and I've seen some guys test in the 30s that couldn't walk across the street," said Reese, who has been in the NFL since 1975.

Before the combine, many prospects get help to prepare for the test. They take the tests almost every day to get ready for the combine. Young is expected to take the test again before the Longhorns' pro day March 22.

Scores for quarterbacks in the past five drafts vary, according to nfldraftscout.com. For instance, Michael Vick scored a 20, David Carr had a 24 and Eli Manning came in with a 39.

"The Wonderlic is just a red flag," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "Before the draft, everybody will sit down with Vince and find out if he can process information. The test has been the standard for decades, but it's only one part of the evaluation process. It's just a first step. There'll be a lot of other tests he'll undergo."

Sean Jones, a member of Oakland's personnel department, put little stock in Young's Wonderlic score.

"All I need to know about Vince Young is that he came up with one of the greatest performances ever in the Rose Bowl," Jones said. "In the fourth quarter, I saw (USC coach) Pete Carroll throw every kind of blitz at Vince. I saw Vince read the blitz and beat the blitz.

"I don't care what his Wonderlic score is. The only score I care about is 41-38."

Defensive tackle Rodrique Wright, Young's teammate at UT, came to the QB's defense.

"I think Vince's decision-making will be missed even more than his athleticism," Wright said about the Longhorns. "We knew all along that Vince was a great athlete who could run and throw, but the biggest improvement he made from his freshman year through his junior year was in the decision-making process.

"You don't lead a team to a national championship if you can't make good decisions."


Interview goes well
While Young's Wonderlic tests created a huge controversy, he was busy interviewing with different teams, including the Texans.

"I thought the interview went well," Young said. "I thought coach (Gary) Kubiak was cool.

"They asked me a lot of questions about offense. At the end, they asked me why I thought I'd be good for the team. I basically told them that I'm a high-character guy that wants to win. I said it's important to be a leader.

"I told them I wanted a chance to lead them to a Super Bowl win."

Kubiak was impressed with Young, too.

"We had a great interview with him," Kubiak said. "I wanted him to tell me why football's important to him. I wanted to talk to him about his leadership qualities. We talked a lot about offense.

"I was very, very impressed with the kid. But I was impressed with Reggie Bush, too."

john.mcclain@chron.com

[Terry]

With the trade of Javon Walker we sky-rocketed into the top 10.

LOL! That's about the funniest line I've seen in a month!

And Woodbuck, thanks for posting that story - that was the funniest piece I've read in ages. Oh man, that guy deserves a James Thurber award or something. I'm still laughing, whenever I think about it.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

I took the wonderlic test once. I had to do it for a school i was working for, to see exactly what the students had to take.

I didn't know i was going to take it, had little sleep that night, and had been drinking heavily the night before. Scored a 41.

As much as we make fun of the low scores, I saw plenty of potential students struggle to make a 10. Point? They coudn't get in a tech school (nurses assistant, surg tech, massage therapy) without a ten. Makes you wonder how they made it through an accredited university.

[Zool]

I also got an 8. I'm still arguing about the last question about Bill and Beth. WHERE does it say that Bill greeted Ben?

Not Certain was the answer. There's no was of knowing.

"Bill greeted Beth. Beth greeted Ben. Bill did not greet Ben."

If random problem solving was a way into the NFL, I would be in. Pesky athletic ability always gets in the way though.

[Fritz]

"But players scoring too high are also suspect. If a player is smart, his potential to be a smartass increases exponentially."


Did T.O. ace the thing, then?

[PackerPro42]

I got nine out of nine.