NFL tends to discipline draft players wonderlic test system to stop public disclosure of score-NFL News
The National Football League, the representative and regulatory body of the American professional football, is weighing to enforce some sort of disciplinary measures to check the norm
of making public draft players’ Wonderlic test results.
It is cognitive ability test, formerly known as
Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT), a group test used to assess aptitude/intelligence of potential employees. It was developed by Eldon F. Wonderlic and thus refers as Wonderlic test, commonly used in the NFL combine. It is based on 50 questions
to be answered in 12 minutes.
NFL’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, has noted it with concern that disclosure of the results was detrimental to the reputation of the aspiring young professional football players and the
league.
Goodell has spoken about the practice following the demand of banning it from Cleveland Browns’ tight end, Benjamin Watson, who had earned one of the highest score of 48 in the 12-minutes
exam, based on 50 questions.
Watson said:
"I just think the sad thing is, it's not supposed to be made public. I'm all for keeping it private, especially when talking about something that's as sensitive as an aptitude test."
The commissioner has now added his voice to the Watson’s point of concern and hinted at disciplining the way the information around the exam is handled.
He said:
"Disclosure of inappropriate private or confidential information concerning draft-eligible players is conduct detrimental to the league and will be met with significant discipline."
He also noted:
"Bear in mind that the publicly disclosed information is frequently inaccurate, incomplete or misleading, and often results from an effort of an individual to advance a self-interested
goal."
The exam, which is sort of an aptitude test of the prospective professional players’ counts in the final evaluation of a draft player. It is not clear how much weight the NFL teams put
on it while considering a player for recruitment but it does matters in the player’s overall reputation and stature.
However, as now being noted by the teams and league office itself, individual players attempt to mislead their potential suitors on the score of the test.
Both, Watson and Rogger Goodell, believe that the spread of misinformation can be stopped by banning public disclosure of the test score.
Watson did not say if his score had influenced the New England Patriots’ decision of recruiting him as a draft player but he admitted it remains a factor among other points
of evaluation of the prospective players. He was drafted by Patriots 32nd overall pick out of Georgia in 2004.
In spite of the talk and suggestion of disciplinary action, league’s commissioner has not hinted at the timeline of the possible discussion of the issue with owners of its franchises and
what sort of measures can be introduced to check the practice.
He is optimistic it will preserve the reputation of young professional football players and promote their credibility as the potential draft recruits.
At the moment, the commissioner noted that public disclosure of the results leads to unnecessary exploitation of the players and recruiters positions, causing considerable damage to talented
players’ careers.
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