10 Notable Wonderlic Scores

Darren Davis

Score: 4

Who? Yeah. He was once the Big Ten’s rushing leader (1,388 yards for Iowa State in 1999), but he ended up spending a few years in the Canadian Football League. Who knows if his reportedly horrible Wonderlic score had anything to do with that. For years, though, this was considered the worst score of all time. A score of 20 is considered average. Running backs average around 17-19. A few people are said to have since equaled his rock-bottom score of 4.

Vince Young

Score: 6

The jury is still out on the third-overall pick of the 2006 draft, but given the fears about his intelligence in 2006 he was lucky to go that high. Many NFL people thought he was the most promising and exciting player in the draft, but a score that low (he reportedly later re-took the test and upped his score to 14) is alarming for a quarterback. Some, as you’ll see, have overcome their number. But an average score for an NFL quarterback is around 25. Most people who pay attention to the test want to see a quarterback in the 30s.

Dan Marino

Score: 15

This test score wasn’t the only reason his stock plummeted in the first round of the 1983 draft, but it was part of the package that had scared off some of the quarterback-needy teams. The Dolphins weren’t frightened, though. And while they never won a Super Bowl with Marino, they did get 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdowns out of him. Oh, and here’s another number bigger than his 15 on the Wonderlic: He played 17 seasons in the NFL.

Terry Bradshaw

Score: 16

There’s a famous story about Cowboys LB Hollywood Henderson taunting the Steelers quarterback before Super Bowl XIII saying he couldn’t “spell cat if you spotted him the ‘c’ and the ‘a’.” What matters to Bradshaw, though, is that he can count to four – as in his four Super Bowl championship rings.

Tim Tebow

Score: 22

Most people consider 21-22 to be about an average score, and not just for an NFL player. Obviously there’s nothing average about Tebow who became something of a sensation – a cult-hero, even – during his remarkable run as the Broncos’ starting quarterback this past season. He was hailed for his ability to lead and his remarkable ability bring the Broncos back late in games. His quarterback play? Well, some people aren’t so sold on that. It has nothing to do with intelligence, though. The knocks on him have to do with his skill.

Eli Manning

Score: 39

He’s a Manning and everybody knew he was smart. Here’s what makes this a notable score, though. It’s considerably higher than the two quarterbacks in his 2004 draft class – Ben Roethlisberger (25) and Philip Rivers (30). It’s also higher than Tom Brady (33), whom he’s now beaten in two Super Bowls. And perhaps most notably, it’s higher than his more celebrated brother, Peyton (28). Eli Manning has been trying to measure up to those other quarterbacks for most of his career. When it comes to IQ, though, he already had them beat.

Drew Henson

Score: 42

He was once hailed as one of the greatest natural athletes ever to come out of college. He pushed Tom Brady from behind as a quarterback at Michigan. Then he turned down the chance to be the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick to sign a contract with the New York Yankees instead. There, he was exposed as a below-average hitter and ended up with only 1 hit in 9 Major League at-bats. He quit baseball and returned to football where he languished for four seasons in the NFL as a backup quarterback, made one start and completed 11 of 20 passes for 98 yards.

Greg McElroy

Score: 48

There are different kinds of smart, apparently. McElroy is obviously brilliant and was an outstanding quarterback at Alabama, but his talent level made him only a third-stringer in his first NFL season. Then he did something most third-stringers wouldn’t do – he ripped into his team. He went on the radio in the offseason and blasted the “selfish” and “corrupt mindset” in the Jets’ locker room. He said “It’s definitely not a fun place to be, I assure you. It’s the first time I've ever been around extremely selfish individuals, and I think that’s maybe the nature of the NFL. But there were people within our locker room that didn’t care whether we won or lost.” Yikes. We’ll see how smart that is the next time the expendable third-stringer is back in the Jets’ locker room – assuming there is a next time.

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Score: 48

What is it about Harvard guys and high IQs? Oh, never mind. He didn’t ace the test like McInally, but he came pretty close. Still, because he played in the Ivy League, he slipped to the seventh round of the draft and kicked around with a few teams before finally getting his chance with the Buffalo Bills. In his second year as a starter, he just had his finest NFL season, throwing for more than 3,800 yards. And he’s only 29, so he’s just hitting his prime. Maybe more importantly, he just signed a six-year, $59 million contract. That seems pretty smart.