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Wonderlic, Race, and the NFL Draft

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Gill
  • Victor Brajer

Abstract

Extending the work of Berri and Simmons on the National Football League (NFL) player draft and the Scouting Combine, the authors use the Wonderlic cognitive ability test to test one implication of a simple Phelps model of statistical discrimination in the NFL draft. The authors treat Wonderlic scores as a noisy signal of a player’s adaptability to the NFL game that may be more informative for White players than it is for Black players. The authors find that Wonderlic scores are important in explaining relative draft position for quarterbacks, offensive linemen, and tight ends. At the same time, the authors find limited evidence to support statistical discrimination based on Wonderlic scores.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Gill & Victor Brajer, 2012. "Wonderlic, Race, and the NFL Draft," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(6), pages 642-653, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:13:y:2012:i:6:p:642-653
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002511429575
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-661, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mirabile, McDonald & Witte, Mark, 2012. "Collegiate and professional careers of high school athletes," MPRA Paper 40643, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Gregory DeAngelo & Hannes Lang & Bryan McCannon, 2016. "Do Psychological Traits Explain Differences in Free Riding?," Working Papers 16-08, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    3. J.D. Pitts & B. Evans, 2018. "Evidence on the importance of cognitive ability tests for NFL quarterbacks: what are the relationships among Wonderlic scores, draft positions and NFL performance outcomes?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(27), pages 2957-2966, June.

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