You need brains to play football, even if those very brains will soon be turned to mush in many cases. Matt Quirk’s 2006 article on football IQ scores was fascinating:
The average score for NFL draftees over the past twenty years is a 19, which puts them a peg higher than aspiring drivers, deliverymen, and claims clerks, but not quite at the level of quality-control checkers (19.19), food-department managers (19.14), or machinists (19.54). The smartest group, on average, is attorneys (29.67), followed by editors (28.84) and executives (28.70). The lowest scorers, all around 15, are janitors, material handlers, and, in dead last, packers. A 10 is literacy, according to Wonderlic President Charlie Wonderlic Jr., and any score of 12 or under means the prospect is likely to be “successful using simple tools under consistent supervision.” At this year’s combine it was reported that Texas quarterback Vince Young, one of the draft’s top prospects, scored a 6 on the test. His agent contested the report, but did confirm that Young retook the test and scored a 16. The minimum scores Thomas recommends to his teams are a 20 for quarterbacks, a 23 for offensive linemen, a 20 for middle linebackers and safeties, and a 15 for wide receivers and cornerbacks.
Not-so-shabby.
The Dish 