LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne scored a four on the Wonderlic test

[Crazy Canuck]

I still don't understand how anyone can get a 4 (or a 9). It seems as if random chance would dictate a higher score. You should accidentally score higher than 4. I mean, a 4 is only 4 points higher than what a rock would score.

He has a learning disability, which does not impact on his ability to take instruction from coaches.

 

[Jetstream Green]

you guys don't get it, the dude only answered the first 4 questions and then said screw it, and started daydreaming about chicks, sports cars and being on ESPN.

 

[187]

Seriously.

This should effect his draft status. I mean how stupid do you have to be, do you hear me picks 1 thru 12.

You can't miss on these picks you know. How can you justify picking someone in the first 12 spots that obviously cannot think.

You can't. So, I guess he will just have for free fall through the draft.

Let the Cardinals take him, we don't know what we are doing anyway right ? Just let us take it, and make that big mistake.

Last time I checked quarterbacks threw footballs at db's, not math questions. I don't care if a corner can't spell his name as long as he has fluid hips and can blanket a wr. Obviously his wonderlic score didn't stop him from being the best corner in college football. Peterson scored a flippin 9, what were we thinking taking him fifth overall?

 

[MrYeahBut]

Personally I think it's in very poor taste to make fun of him.

 

[earthsci]

Can you imagine if this makes him fall to #13? Holy crap, I know that we don't "need" a CB but that would set us up for a long time. IF we drafted him. Whatever...back to reality.

 

[pinetopred]

JMO at most positons it doesn't matter, some of the best players I played against weren't smart dudes, football IQ/ athletic IQ way bigger deals at most positons. Give me a smart QB/MLB/C, the rest are playing the game, not thinking the game.

 

[CardLogic]

Just wondering how he got admitted to LSU and was academically a junior.

Ah, he's a stud football player.


DOH!

 

[Darkside]

He has a learning disability, which does not impact on his ability to take instruction from coaches.

Oh I totally agree, and I'm not saying he isn't (or won't be) a fantastic football player. My point was that sometimes when you try to rationalize a problem you produce the wrong answer. On most "tests" you could completely guess on every question and come out @ roughly 50%. It's when you try to over-think situations that you end up way wrong. We've all taken tests where we don't know the answer, and in most instances you're better off simply guessing (you've got a 50/50 shot) rather than trying to rationally think through something you don't (fully) understand. I've often questioned what the Wonderlic has to do with football at all. It may be an indication of how you'll handle fame, the media, or society in general, but I think it's been proven useless in regards to football ability.

I also believe it's much more difficult to be a pro athlete than to be an "intellectual". Every dude on my block thinks he's more intelligent than his neighbor. If he's not "book-smart" he'll fall back on the argument that he's got more "street-smarts". Studies have also proven that the general population thinks they're more intelligent than everyone else--something that's statistically impossible. Not to belabor the point, but back in the 40's they gave High School seniors a questionnaire and one of the questions was: "Do you consider yourself a very important person?" Back then less than 40% answered yes. When they gave it again in 2009 over 90% answered yes. Truth is, we all think we're just really swell, compassionate, intelligent people. How many very important people do you know, besides yourself obviously? I don't know that many (besides myself).

To be a professional athlete, however, in any sport, requires attributes that are extremely difficult to teach or learn. You're either raised that way or you develop the skills over a long period of time. It's not just about the physical body, although most people's bodies tend to break down before reaching any level of excellence. It's also about dedication, an extreme work ethic, an ability to focus, an ability to take direction (abstract direction and then put it into physical action), and a team first attitude that is rarely displayed in other areas of life. And I do mean an extreme work ethic--half the people I work with call in sick or give a half-assed effort, at least some of the time. Few people give 100% all of the time, every day, all day. To be an athlete you can rarely take a day off, from the time you start "training" at a young age, until you reach the pro level.

There are few "intellectuals" (define that how you want) who spend 8 hours in the library or studying and then hit the field to go play contact sports. And that's okay. Yet the top athletes dedicate everything they have to sports and then spend all day in class; and if they do poorly we get on them for being, basically, a talented body with no mind. Let's be honest, they didn't come out of the womb that way (maybe Darnell Docket did) and just coast all through school; they had to work at it, and work really damn hard at it.

Intelligence is difficult to define and more difficult to prove. Anyone and everyone claims to have some type of smarts. But you can prove, beyond a doubt, who's a great athlete, the best of his peers. Someone who is "football intelligent" as well as an athlete. That, to me, is very impressive and why I think it's more impressive than some dude who reads books all day and goes to school and proclaims to be smarter than some "idiot" football player. As a society we protect the *********. We even have labels telling them not to drink the Drano. As an athlete you have to have all that and more.

Just my opinion. Kudos to anyone who read all that.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Personally I think it's in very poor taste to make fun of him.

It's okay. Really. He'll never read any of this...

 

[Shane]

It's okay. Really. He'll never read any of this...

I heard he scored a 4 on the WL test. So he probably can't

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Oh I totally agree, and I'm not saying he isn't (or won't be) a fantastic football player. My point was that sometimes when you try to rationalize a problem you produce the wrong answer. On most "tests" you could completely guess on every question and come out @ roughly 50%. It's when you try to over-think situations that you end up way wrong. We've all taken tests where we don't know the answer, and in most instances you're better off simply guessing (you've got a 50/50 shot) rather than trying to rationally think through something you don't (fully) understand. I've often questioned what the Wonderlic has to do with football at all. It may be an indication of how you'll handle fame, the media, or society in general, but I think it's been proven useless in regards to football ability.

I also believe it's much more difficult to be a pro athlete than to be an "intellectual". Every dude on my block thinks he's more intelligent than his neighbor. If he's not "book-smart" he'll fall back on the argument that he's got more "street-smarts". Studies have also proven that the general population thinks they're more intelligent than everyone else--something that's statistically impossible. Not to belabor the point, but back in the 40's they gave High School seniors a questionnaire and one of the questions was: "Do you consider yourself a very important person?" Back then less than 40% answered yes. When they gave it again in 2009 over 90% answered yes. Truth is, we all think we're just really swell, compassionate, intelligent people. How many very important people do you know, besides yourself obviously? I don't know that many (besides myself).

To be a professional athlete, however, in any sport, requires attributes that are extremely difficult to teach or learn. You're either raised that way or you develop the skills over a long period of time. It's not just about the physical body, although most people's bodies tend to break down before reaching any level of excellence. It's also about dedication, an extreme work ethic, an ability to focus, an ability to take direction (abstract direction and then put it into physical action), and a team first attitude that is rarely displayed in other areas of life. And I do mean an extreme work ethic--half the people I work with call in sick or give a half-assed effort, at least some of the time. Few people give 100% all of the time, every day, all day. To be an athlete you can rarely take a day off, from the time you start "training" at a young age, until you reach the pro level.

There are few "intellectuals" (define that how you want) who spend 8 hours in the library or studying and then hit the field to go play contact sports. And that's okay. Yet the top athletes dedicate everything they have to sports and then spend all day in class; and if they do poorly we get on them for being, basically, a talented body with no mind. Let's be honest, they didn't come out of the womb that way (maybe Darnell Docket did) and just coast all through school; they had to work at it, and work really damn hard at it.

Intelligence is difficult to define and more difficult to prove. Anyone and everyone claims to have some type of smarts. But you can prove, beyond a doubt, who's a great athlete, the best of his peers. Someone who is "football intelligent" as well as an athlete. That, to me, is very impressive and why I think it's more impressive than some dude who reads books all day and goes to school and proclaims to be smarter than some "idiot" football player. As a society we protect the *********. We even have labels telling them not to drink the Drano. As an athlete you have to have all that and more.

Just my opinion. Kudos to anyone who read all that.

I enjoyed the read and your observations are quite valid, IMO.

I work in an enviroment where everyone has a graduate or postgraduate degree. We all have, at a minimum, upper 5% Doctor/Lawyer/Engineer IQ's, according to research, but even among us we make distinctions between who is average and those above. My early life was in sport, hockey, and I met absolute geniuses at the game who hadn't graduated from High School and would have received a 10 at best on a Wonderlic test.

 

[JAB]

I really don't care what they score on that test. I think the bigger issue at hand, is the fact that some athletes only go to college with the intention of making it to the pros and zero intension of educating themselves.

Obviously not all of them but too many of them are simply there for the sports. I think it's time to drop the politically correct hypocrisy and allow the athletes to simply go to college learn a simple trade and play sports.

Give the actual education to a needy intelligent deserving kid that wouldn't get a degree without the help. If the athlete doesn't want an education, and aren't going to try to get one anyways just teach them a trade and give the classroom time to a young adult that's going to do something with it.

 

[JeffGollin]

No doubt, the low Wunderic score won't lower his rating per se, but will lead to further questioning by the teams who are interested in Clairborne.

First question out of the box figures to be: "How come?" Were there any extenuating factors - either a learning disability or something that screwed up taking the test that day?"

The next logical question figures to be: "Would you be willing to take the test again?"

This will probably lead to a whole bunch of "Gruden QB School" interviewing to determine Clairborne's "football intelligence" (i.e. how well he understands defensive schemes and coverages and how quickly or slowly he seems to pick up new concepts).

His college coach says Clairborne's absorbed all the info necessary to thrive in a sophisticated college football defense, but any coach or scout wanting to cover his butt will put Clairborne through the ringer to prove that what his college coach says about him is true.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

I don't think PP did too well on the test either. I can tell by the way he speaks.

Seriously? How well somebody speaks has nothing to do with their intelligence level. 2 Examples: The homeless guy with the radio voice...and Bill Walton.

The homeless guy sounds like a million bucks, but obviously has serious issues to deal with and does not make the smartest of decisions.

Bill Walton battled severe stuttering and speech problems early on, but I'd say he's a very intellectual and intelligent person.

 

[Skumbag]

Taken from Wiki...

An average football player usually scores around 20 points, Wonderlic, Inc. claims a score of at least 10 points suggests a person is literate.[15] Furthermore, when the test was given to miscellaneous people of various occupations, it was observed that the average participant scored a 24. Examples of scores from everyday professions include:[citation needed]
Historian – 36
Chemist – 31
Physicist – 48
Programmer – 29
Journalist – 26
Sales – 24
Bank teller – 22
Clerical worker – 21
Security guard – 17
Warehouse worker – 15

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Ben Watson scored a 48 out of 50 on the test.

Wonderlic maven Watson talks importance of test

Browns tight end Ben Watson answered 48-of-50 questions correctly at the 2004 Scouting Combine. He discussed the test’s significance in a Thursday interview with Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald.

 

[Jetstream Green]

took the Wonderlic and scored a 33, and I can safely say Claiborne can kick my ass at cornerback

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Terrelle Pryor scored higher than I thought he would,..... 5.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

LSU is notorious for "setting the bar" at who can get the lowest wonderlic. Not too many Rhodes Scholars coming out of LSU, that's for sure.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Meh, who cares...I hope he falls to the cardinals...and Shane on whomever released the info, especially if he has a learning disability.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Meh, who cares...I hope he falls to the cardinals...and Shane on whomever released the info, especially if he has a learning disability.

Yeah. "Shane" on them !!

 

[Southpaw]

I still don't understand how anyone can get a 4 (or a 9). It seems as if random chance would dictate a higher score. You should accidentally score higher than 4. I mean, a 4 is only 4 points higher than what a rock would score.

I believe 4 points are awarded to anyone who can stare blankly at the test for 30 minutes and not select any answers, just for consistency and perseverance.