Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
West Virginia Mountaineers star wide receiver Tavon Austin has done nothing but improve his NFL draft stock this offseason, but goofed up during the infamous Wonderlic Test earlier this week.
Austin got a 7-out-of-50 on the Wonderlic. It seems like every year, right after the Wonderlic test, right after somebody drops a single digit number and fails the test miserably, we see a whole load of criticism towards the test. We hear people say that it’s irrelevant, it doesn’t matter, it won’t affect his performance on the field, etc.
Unfortunately, I’d have to agree with these people.
In all seriousness, players who are as good on the field as Tavon Austin have their primary focus in school on the football field. That is simply the nature of the sport in modern day America. I understand that there are players who are exceptions to this rule. I also understand that there are a number of players out there who excel both on the field and in the classroom. The point I’m trying to make, however, is that people simply don’t care if you have the grades as long as you can win football games.
As unfortunate as that may be and whether or not you agree with it, the nature of the game today is that these superstar athletes are simply not held to the same academic standard as other students.
Sure, if a player gets a 2.0 GPA he’s suspended and can’t play, but does the average fan or any coach on the team really care what his GPA is as long as he’s eligible? I mean every year people sound surprised when one of these college standouts gets a low score on this test, but the reality of the situation is that even if a player gets a high score on this test nobody cares.
Honestly, I’m not even so sure football players should be expected to perform as well in the classroom as non-athletes. Think about it, these players are going to class in the morning, practicing all evening, every day, every week. On top of that, they are trying to balance that act with homework, labs, exams, etc. Then add in the travel element to it, especially for a team like the Mountaineers, who travel an insane amount of miles each year and it’s no easy task for a player to manage.
Now, I’m not necessarily saying Tavon Austin didn’t perform well in the classroom either. For all I know, he could be a 4.0 student.
The point I’m trying to make is that the Wonderlic test really doesn’t matter. Tavon Austin will be able to play football exceptionally well at the next level, regardless of whether he can calculate the cube root of 720 or not.
Mike is a Big 12 Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeAtkinsonRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
