It's time for Leelanau County athletes to take the Wonderlic Test.

What is the Wonderlic Test?

It's a test that the National Football League gives to college players who are eligible for the draft.

It’s really nothing more than a reading comprehension test. But because some of these players struggle with reading comprehension, the scores vary widely.

The Wonderlic Test created a big stir last year when Texas quarterback Vince Young supposedly scored only 6. Dan Marino scored a 15. The average score is 22. But there have been some players, mostly from Ivy League schools, who have scored in the high 40s. A 50 is a perfect score.

So what does it prove? Nothing.

Marino is a Hall of Fame quarterback. Young had a sensational rookie season. The players who nearly aced the Wonderlic Test barely played a down in the NFL.

So you have to wonder why the NFL even bothers with the test. It’s the same reason they put so much stock in 40-yard dash times.

“When you have so much money tied up in a player, you want to know everything you can about them,” is the stock answer. “It’s also one way of separating the fringe players, not so much the stars.”

With that in mind, I figured we might as well establish our own Leelanau County Wonderlic Test.

I came up with five questions that I think our athletes should be able to respond to. If a coach needs to send a player into the lineup during a crucial part of a game, he looks at his Wonderlic Test score and either: 1.) Puts in the player with the highest score; or 2.) Puts in the player with the lowest score, knowing the player won’t over-think the situation.

Here are the five questions:

1. Where is the Leelanau County seat? The question itself will start an argument, so we’ll take Leland, Lake Leelanau and the backside of your favorite aunt.
2. How long has the Leelanau Enterprise been in business? Acceptable answers will include decades, anything before 1970 and “As long as I’ve lined the bottom of my birdcage.” (Just kidding, boss).
3. Who is the greatest football player in the history of Leelanau County? Acceptable answers include Glen Lake’s Dave Stachnik, any number of great Suttons Bay players over the last few years or (the most popular), the guy who has had the most beers at Art’s or Eddie’s and is lamenting about his career.
4. Who is the greatest female athlete in Leelanau County history? Acceptable answers include Glen Lake’s Laura Wiesen, Leland’s Stephanie Chambers or Alisha Glass, and Northport’s Kaye Leighton.
5. Who are the greatest coaches in county history? Acceptable answers include your parents, teachers who help you get ready for the county spelling bee or the coach who decided you were good enough to be a starter in high school.

See, it’s all about reading comprehension. Some people will go for the obvious correct answer. Others will answer “out of the box.”

So there is more than one correct answer. It’s what has become politically correct so that no student has a bad grade and everyone feels good about themselves. And parents don’t have to complain about the coach because every answer is technically correct and open to interpretation.

That’s why we need the Wonderlic Test in Leelanau County.

And 40-yard dash times.

Come to think of it, how did the NFL ever get by before the days of the Wonderlic and 40-yard dashes? How did they know Jim Brown would be a great running back or Dick “Night Train” Lane a shut-down defensive back?

I guess they relied on good, old-fashioned game film and common sense. Now that’s a novel approach.