Recreation and Sports

 by: John Onan

As usual, the mainstream media blows another non-story from the world of sports WAY out of proportion- even worse, the news over the weekend about Texas quarterback Vince Young's Wonderlic score is likely inaccurate to boot.

Young, who is currently in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine, was reported to have scored a woeful 6 on the 50 question test that has been used by NFL executives as a scouting tool to measure a draft prospect's intelligence.

A spokesman for the NFL has stated that scores do not come out until a week after the combine, so as of now these reports are not only pure speculation on the part of the media, but also border on slanderous if we find out a week from now that he actually scored higher.

According to more reliable sources, Young actually scored a 16, which doesn't exactly make him a genius, but is simply below average compared to 2005 draft hopefuls. I'm sure if this is the case, the major sports networks and newspapers won't provide us with wall-to-wall coverage of how badly they goofed; the damage has already been done.

According to possibly the best talent evaluator to come along in the past twenty years, former Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins coach Jimmie Johnson, he payed very little attention to off the field tests and concentrated more on game film and how a player reacted in game situations. Ask USC coach Pete Carroll how effective Young is when the chips are down, he'll tell you straight up.

If you're still not convinced how insignificant a low Wonderlic score is in predicting NFL success, a pretty good Hall of Fame quarterback that holds most of the league's passing records reportedly scored a 13. He goes by the name Dan Marino.