Okay, so I was down a rabbit hole on the internet the other day, and I stumbled upon this “Wonderlic” thing. Apparently, it’s some kind of test they give to NFL prospects, and it’s supposed to measure, like, their smarts. And then I saw Joe Montana’s name pop up – you know, the legendary 49ers quarterback? – and his Wonderlic score. I just had to check it out.
First, I tried to get a handle on what the Wonderlic even is. From what I could gather, it’s a short, 12-minute test with 50 questions. It’s all about problem-solving and figuring things out quickly, not so much about what you learned in school.
So, I was curious: How did “Joe Cool” do on this thing? I mean, the guy was known for being calm under pressure and making incredible plays. Surely, he must have aced it, right?
My Deep Dive
I started digging around, looking for Montana’s actual score. There were a bunch of different numbers floating * was pretty all over the place!
It seems the most consistent number, most sources had Joe Montana getting around the low * seems about right.
Here’s the deal: a score in the low 30s is decent, above average for sure, but not mind-blowing. There is some articles saying Montana had a 33 score. I guess the takeaway is, being a legendary quarterback isn’t just about raw brainpower, it’s also about all those other things – leadership, intuition, the ability to read defenses, and just plain knowing the game. Montana obviously had all that in spades.
