Former LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne, a likely top-five pick in this month's NFL draft, scored a four on his Wonderlic intelligence test at the NFL combine. That's four. Zero-four. Four out of 50. Usually those two numbers bring to mind Tim Tebow's passing stats or the Oakland Raiders won-loss record, not a score on a test where a mark of 10 is considered literate. Claiborne's four ties the lowest reported score in draft history. The NFL average is 21. The public average is 24. Vince Young, the most popular failed Wonderlic test-taker in NFL history, scored a six. Terry Bradshaw, a guy who "couldn't spell 'cat' even if you spotted him a 'ca'" got a 13. Wonderlic scores are supposed to remain secret, but these things always have a way of getting out. This bothers Claiborne's agent Bus Cook, not necessarily because this will hurt Claiborne's draft stock (it won't) but because it reflects terribly on the agent. "I haven't heard a word about," Cook said after hearing about it. "I haven't talked to anybody about it. All I know is that [Claiborne] was from a complicated defensive system and he flourished in it." Feigning ignorance while defending ignorance is one way to go about it, I guess. Some folks will mock Claiborne's lack of book smarts, others will be aghast at the lack of privacy shown by the NFL's test takers. But most will correctly shrug their shoulders and know that Claiborne's football future won't be determined by an intelligence test or a 40 times or bench press reps, but by his on-field talent and off-field dedication. He's being drafted to play defense. Whichever team takes him will almost certainly have doctors and lawyers on the payroll, thus lessening the need for him to perform emergency surgery or pore over legal documents. Plenty of great players have had low IQs and plenty of smart guys have been bad football players. At times like this, it's important to remember the immortal words of Joe Thiesmann. "Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius," the former Washington Redskins quarterback once said. "A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein." Morris Claiborne couldn't agree more.
I know a guy who has taken the actual wonderlic test they give these players, he's an average guy works for Oregon State, and he said if you can't score over a 10 you should be declared mentally handicapped.
I don't think the Wonderlic even matters for CBs. They don't have to think much, just cover. CB is probably the position where being able to think is the least important aspect to playing. Keep in mind also that the Wonderlic doesn't measure your ability to think, but rather problem solving in a constrained time environment.
I've taken a wonderlic test before through a study at work scheme, Claibourne getting a 4 must mean he literally must've got no more than 1 question right lol
Seems wrong to me to dump this info out to the public. Especially when half the folks who see it can't spell Wonderlic.
Speaking of this test. Does anyone know sample questions? I never really looked up how this test works or any questions with this test...
The Wonderlic is a 50 question, timed test. Not marked off for wrong answers. It is basically on the level of an entrance exam to HIGH SCHOOL, not out of high school.
Here's a sample wonderlic. Take the test and see how well you do. It's timed, so make sure you take no more than 12 minutes. For Shits and giggles, post your score! http://www.mancavesports.org/50-question-sample-nfl-wonderlic-test/
Kind of embarrassing but I got a 20 from spending way too much time on the complicated math problems instead of just going for the easy answers. No idea how someone gets a 4... I literally spent more time coming up with an algebra equation for number 17, doing it wrong, reworking it to be the correct equation and then solving for it than I did answering all of the other questions combined.
