The NFL Scouting Combine comes around every February, giving potential NFL draft candidates a stage to show off their talent. The tests of physical ability can make or break an entire career, as Maurice Clarett might explain, right after he finishes robbing you. Along with the physical tests, the NFL gives a mental exam that is meant to gauge a player's aptitude in a similar vein to the SAT.
The aptitude test is called the Wonderlic. It was started as a personnel exam for corporate use way back in 1937, and is still used by hundreds of businesses other than the NFL. Luckily for most cubical dwellers, no one cares enough to write newspaper articles about their performances.
Unluckily for a potential top-3 draft pick, the opposite rule applies: while scores are supposed to stay private, a surprisingly good or bad result will inevitably make its way onto ESPN and keep the conversations mill grinding for awhile.
After the Combine, rumors started to swirl that Vince Young scored a dismal six out of 50 on his Wonderlic. Later, his agent dismissed the rumors by saying his score was in fact 16, not six. While I'm not sure I believe his agent, 16 sounds significantly more promising, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
To put Young's result in perspective, the average NFL score is 19, and the average national score is 21. Dan Marino scored 16 points before going on to an excellent career, even if he never won the big game.
Conversely, Brian Griese received a remarkable 39 points, but he's still struggling for a starting spot. Not that you remember this guy, but Cade McNown received a well-above-average 28 points before becoming the biggest draft letdown in Chicago Bears history.
Drew Bledsoe managed an excellent 37 points, Brett Favre a reasonable 22 points and Daunte Culpepper 21 points.
Pat McInally, a punter from Harvard who played for the Cincinnati Bengals, is the only NFL player to achieve a perfect 50 on the test.
Unfortunately for Young, quarterbacks face the heaviest scrutiny of any position when it comes to the Wonderlic. Teams are willing to write off a low score from a running back or a kicker (LaDanian Tomlinson's 13 points and Sebastian Janikowski's nine aren't slowing them down), but a low test score sets off warning signals if the player is going to be the team's primary signal-caller.
While each position in football requires players to understand the playbook, a quarterback's ability to grasp the offense can be the keystone of a good team.
Luckily for Young, a good written exam score is not exactly what football teams are looking for. They want a tested player who has proven his skill and understanding of the game where it counts: on the football field. And Young has done just that, and done it more than once.
While the spotlight wasn't shining as brightly early on, Young figured out ways to win games. When the whole country was watching, he proved to all his skeptics that he was in fact the clutch player people had been talking about.
Even if a good Wonderlic score is not the most important qualification a player can bring to the draft, Young blew an opportunity to prove his doubters wrong. The immediate assumption was that Young couldn't be smart enough to lead a football team, on or off the field.
That assumption seems unfounded, because if you've ever watched him play football, you know a written test can't address his intangible talents or instincts on the field.
To borrow another example, Michael Vick never struck me as "intelligent," but he seems to have managed to get his head around the Atlanta playbook well enough.
Aside from being a missed opportunity, the test score -- be it six or 16 -- is of little consequence. Maybe if the questions were less "Paper costs 24 cents per pad. How much would four pads cost?" and more "It's the Rose Bowl, fourth-and-goal, and your team is trailing. What do you do?" then Young would have aced it.
Vince Young ought to have a successful career because his instincts allow him to answer the second question right, not because he knows that four pads of Wonderlic paper cost 96 cents.
