March 17th, 2011 
Adam Warwas 
Posted in It has been a rough week for us Vikings fans.
Okay, this has been a rough week in a string of roughly 60 of them.
With Adrian Peterson getting hammered by the media, the fans, and fellow players for comparing the NFL’s treatment of players to “modern-day slavery” and cornerback Chris Cook being arrested after his neighbor alleged that he pulled a gun on him, it is perfect timing for a good pick-me-up type of story.
Mark Craig of the Star Tribune comes to our rescue by providing us with a story that should make us proud of both Adrian Peterson and Bryant McKinnie.
Peterson convinced McKinnie to accompany him and a handful of other NFL stars to Africa to support the Starkey Hearing Foundation. The mission is to provide hearing impaired people with hearing aids and a year’s worth of batteries.
22,000 hearing aids to be exact. Distributed in just 24 days.
“You kidding?” McKinnie said when asked if his struggling image was a motivation for making the trip. “To think I’ll be able to give a kid fresh water or be able to sit there and see him hear his mom’s voice for the first time. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Just in general, I think this will be a life-changing experience for all the NFL guys going over.”
For anyone that thinks this is one of those all-for-show type of deals and the players won’t actually be getting down and dirty, just listen to McKinnie describe the preparation process.
“I had no idea what it took just to prepare to go there,” McKinnie said in describing the vaccination process. “I took 10 shots. Eight of them in one day.”
“On the video, they’re talking about monkeys jumping out of trees onto you,” McKinnie said. “So you got to take a rabies shot because maybe a monkey will jump out of a tree and bite you. That’s crazy.”
For the entire article about the very worthy cause that these guys are taking part in, give this a click.
don’t worry McKinnie, that monkey will use a swim move and be around you in no time
Oh so wrong Ole! Correct but still wrong LOL
That’s truly funny Ole… really.
It’s no secret that I am not a Bryant McKinnie fan, but I will give him his due for leaving the Miami night life for a period and doing something like this. Good for you, Bryant, and I hope you get the full and true intrinsic reward that something like this brings. No comments about your tackle play today, just leaving it at “way to go”.
Wonderlic scores leaked:
Greg McElroy: 43, Blaine Gabbert: 42, Christian Ponder: 35, Ricky Stanzi: 30, Andy Dalton: 29, Ryan Mallett: 26, Cam Newton: 21, and Jake Locker: 20.
**fun fact: wonderlic was Childress’ high school nickname, who woulda thunk it?**
I hope Adam never requires his bloggers to take the Wonderlic test. I would hate to think what some of those scores might be, and then that would be the end of mocking players for their scores.
Funny you should mention that, coach-a-roonie-doonie!
I took a peek at some sample questions from the aforementioned test. It really looks like nothing more than a pretty rudimentary IQ test.
The very idea that a purportedly college educated young man scoring less than 20 on that rascal is fairly surprising, and more than a little disappointing.
For some, the sole thought “me throw ball good” will have to suffice, I guess.
Well, that is the first (and I assume last) time I’ve been called by that hyphenated conglomeration of ill-conceived prose and alliteration. (I hope all those words fit together.)
Yeah, I am not surprised at the results of your research, Tomb-a-doom-a-room. Although, I assume you are in no way making any sort of politically incorrect stereotyping of all graduating college athletes. Good, I didn’t think so.
This may be an attempt at redeeming himself with his fans and I think it will work, but not because of the humanitarian aspect …. he bought Mckinnie a one way ticket.
I wonder if McKinnies personal trainer will be making the trip with him?
A bit surprising some of those scores (locker). Without trying to judge too much, I do think the wonderlic is quite important, especially for a qb. Being unable to process information quickly would seem to make understanding complex NFL playbooks and defenses a little tough wouldn’t it? Obviously you still have to have the talent to throw the ball though!
Thats what I would think too, but studies show that high scores dont translate into a successful QB.
Name one QB who scored less than fifteen who also won a SB. Bradshaw scored a fifteen…other than that, I cannot think of anybody offhand.
Good point Tomb. Mcnabb (14) made it there but never won. But on the other hand, name one with a score above 40 that has won a ring?
Wow. Admittedly, I never thought of that.
…couldn’t find one in the 27 seconds I spent searching.
touché, you concrete bastage, touché.
This begs a semi-interesting question:
ADAM, with all your kick ass NFL resources, don’t suppose you know the AVERAGE Wonderlic score of all SB winnings QB’s?
If found this from an article, which does show that higher scores do help, so I stand corrected.
Below is data from the last ten Super Bowls. The winning quarterback is listed first, and his Wonderlic score is given in parentheses. (Sorry, I couldn’t locate the Wonderlic score of Brad Johnson.) But for the other nine games, the team whose quarterback had a higher Wonderlic score won four times, the team whose quarterback had a lower Wonderlic score won four times, and last year, the two quarterbacks had the same score.
Super Bowl XXXV – 1/28/01
Trent Dilfer, Baltimore Ravens – Fresno State (22)
Kerry Collins, New York Giants – Penn State (30)
Super Bowl XXXVI – 2/3/02
Tom Brady, New England Patriots – Michigan (33)
Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams – Northern Iowa (29)
Super Bowl XXXVII – 1/26/03
Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Florida State (unavailable)
Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders – Delaware (27)
Super Bowl XXXVIII – 2/1/04
Tom Brady, New England Patriots – Michigan (33)
Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers – Louisiana-Lafayette (32)
Super Bowl XXXVIX – 2/6/05
Tom Brady, New England Patriots – Michigan (33)
Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia – Syracuse (14)
Super Bowl XL – 2/5/06
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers – Miami, Ohio (25)
Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle – Boston College (29)
Super Bowl XLI – 2/4/07
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts – Tennessee (28)
Rex Grossman, Chicago Bears – Florida (29)
Super Bowl XLII – 2/3/08
Eli Manning, New York Giants – Ole Miss (39)
Tom Brady, New England Patriots – Michigan (33)
Super Bowl XLIII – 2/1/09
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers – Miami, Ohio (25)
Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals – Northern Iowa (29)
Super Bowl XLIV – 2/7/10
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints – Purdue (28)
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts – Tennessee (28)
As it turns out, the average Wonderlic score of an NFL player is 20, while the average score of an NFL quarterback is 24. Only one Super Bowl quarterback in the past ten years had a Wonderlic score below the league average. That was Donovan McNabb (14) in 2005. So while a higher Wonderlic score may not imply Super Bowl success, it does seem that quarterbacks who make it to the Super Bowl have above average scores.
Of course, a football team has more than just one player, so it might be more informative to look at the Wonderlic scores for every player on a team. Sadly, I don’t have that kind of time, but such an analysis was done at least once. The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII; the average Wonderlic score for the Broncos was 20.4, while the average score for the Packers was 19.6.
Keep in mind that we don’t know a ton about the test, how it differs from year to year, and how prep for the test has changed over the years.
A score of 20 is intended to as a measuring stick for average intelligence. Many would argue, however, that a quarterback need above average intelligence to be successful in today’s NFL given the complexity of the game. The average QB scores 24.
You average chemist will score 31 on the test while your average warehouse worker will score 14.
Some studies have actually shown that a high score on the wonderlic negatively affects a players odds of success. The argument is that NFL success is more geared towards an ability to memorize rather than intelligence, so a test that checks memory would be more beneficial.
Two good articles:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-falcons/nfls-success-using-wonderlic-352405.html
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a912945165~frm=titlelinkhttp://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a912945165~frm=titlelink
Not sure how to directly answer your question Tomb, as the data available is sketchy and incomplete.
I suggest you check the score for Carson Palmer, as he will be the next Viking QB. That’s right, you heard it here, and it is a fact.
I kinda hope you are right, coach.
When he’s on, he’s so damn fun to watch. Unfortunately, it’s been YEARS since he’s been fun to watch.
Regardless, I’d like to see it. Kinda. Sorta.
I hope you’re right, Coach. I think he’s a quality person and still has something to prove at QB.
Carson Palmer – 26
Where did you hear that? I REALLY hope you are right.
Coach has insider information up there so I’m guessing he knows something.
Scored a 27.5, but my pen was running out of ink…
http://walterfootball.com/draftwonderlic.php
Dang it CC you edged me out, 25 but I’ll take comfort in being above average.
Roughly half of us are above average, johnny. I wonder who’s in that other half?
Did you take the test Coach? I would guess guys like McKinnie and now AD would fall into the other half.
Hey Coach.. The avarage QB in NFL had 24.. not the avarage american
If that test is at all accurate to what the NFL players take, Im surprised Vince Young can figure out how to tie his shoes(im not sure if he does or if he just pays someone to, which im assuming is how he got through college). If there are multiple choice questions on even 10% of it, you should be able to get higher than 6 by accident!
I think I scored a 107, but I could be wrong.
Cmon on coach. There no way you scored over 104.
You’re talking Dugan caliber scores at 107 … doesnt seem possible
Oh, believe me, titan, I’m no Dugan. Maybe I added a 0, so it was really 17. Not sure though. I got a 84 on my drivers test, does that help? (Oh, yeah, like anybody really goes 30 in the city!)
How good a score is 32.5 when I’m not from America?
In the wonderlic that was one Walkerfootball
Very good Malte. Are you a brain surgeon or what?
Not really :b – I live in Denmark, just a 19-year-old kid in gymnasium (in USA that is probaly college..) But those english word I didn’t really knew what they meant, since english is only my second language. – So i’m not fully educated yet
but then again, I guess it’s different with the real wonderlic since it has 50 questions, and this one only contained 20..
Maybe “wunderlic” is a Denmark word, and you actually have an advantage over us. Nice score, though. Can you throw a football?
You sound like a bright young man Malte. Good luck in your future, maybe next great Viking qb. lol
Haha I can spin it for like 30 yards
so don’t get your hopes to high 
– and coach thanks for the compliment 
This test doesn’t really show much about football IQ as much as IQ in generel. Which is two very different things.. this test had a lot to do with math, not memorizing which is very important in football.
American Football surprinsgly isn’t played a lot in Denmark, so unfortanetly I don’t have that great skills :p
Malte, you sound like a great guy and I appreciate you being here at VG.
I actually would be interested (if you are) in having you guest write an article about what it is like to be a Vikings fan overseas. How you see games, what time they are played, if they are played on TV at all, how you get your news, if you have access to NFL merchandise, if you know others that are fans… etc. etc. etc. I think it would be quite interesting.
Please email me at adam@vikingsgab.com if that sounds like something you would be up for. Thanks!
I’ve emailed you now
And I will be honored to write an article here for VG.
Also I want to say that I love the amount of time, and work you put into this great blog.
Malte – It is good to see how widespread American football is becoming. Although, I do have to question if you really are a Vikes fan. I counted 8 smiley faces in 4 posts … I dont understand how a Vikings fan can possibly be that happy!
I look forward to reading your article.
Haha Titan concrete
Well I have to agree, as a Viking fan right now there is not much to be happy about, besides the great fans I’m a part of. But I’m also just happy in general.
I really like chatting with Vikings fans here on VG, and I hope your’ll enjoy the article
Have a nice day mate
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