For decades, the NFL made its top draft prospects squeeze their brains through a 50-question quiz called the Wonderlic. It was a speed round on a game show, except it lasted 12 minutes. And draft stock might rise or fall depending on whether the player was better at algebra or analogies.
It was invented in 1936 by Eldon F. Wonderlic and designed to assess mental sharpness and problem-solving skills. A score of 20 meant a person was average. Coaches like Cowboys legend Tom Landry took it seriously. So did the military and major corporations. But when has solving puzzles under pressure ever proven someone was a great cornerback? In the end, the test that once felt like the gatekeeper for football IQ was benched for good.
Why Was the Use of the Wonderlic Test at the Combine Stopped?
It all stopped in 2022. That was when the NFL officially pulled the plug on the Wonderlic test at the Combine in Indianapolis. As part of a full-scale makeover of Combine activities, the league asked a lot of questions and brought big changes to the old ways. And according to NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent, the Wonderlic just didn’t make the cut.
As Vincent put it, “Frankly, it’s been an outdated process.” That’s one way to sugarcoat the fact that the test never actually predicted anything. No matter how many questions a player nailed in 12 minutes, it didn’t really say much about how they’d perform on Sundays.
A New York Times piece spelled it out clearly, stating that there has never been a correlation between Wonderlic scores and NFL success. But that never stopped teams from taking those scores way too seriously.
Former punter Pat McInally, the only player ever to get a perfect 50, actually believed his brilliance worked against him. “Coaches and front-office guys don’t like extremes one way or the other,” he said. “Particularly not on the high side.” Evidently, the Wonderlic was not very helpful.
To make it worse, the test was also a PR mess. Players’ scores were leaked. Embarrassment followed. And if the test couldn’t even stay confidential, why keep it around? The NFL figured there were better ways to measure intelligence. This basically meant grilling players on formations, testing recall on film and focusing on actual football stuff.
The NFL also clamped down on Combine interview conduct. Teams now face fines of up to $150,000 and even loss of draft picks if their staff crosses the line during interviews. And a draft pick no later than the fourth round. That line has been crossed quite a few times.
The Dolphins reportedly asking Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute was perhaps one of the worst examples. With all that chaos, the league knew it had to clean things up. The Wonderlic was just one part of a larger change.
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A test with roots in psychology journals and Harvard grads was no match for today’s NFL, where film sessions speak louder than bubble-in answers. The Combine is still weird. Always has been. But at least now, future players won’t be judged on how quickly they can do math under stress. And that, honestly, feels like a touchdown for common sense.
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