Despite being picked sixth overall by the Dallas Cowboys — behind attention grabbers like Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III — in Thursday’s NFL draft, Morris Claiborne was one of the most talked about draftees on Friday morning.
It was reported earlier this month that Claiborne scored a four — out of a possible 50 — on the league’s infamous Wonderlic test. To the shock of no one, people on Twitter attacked the defensive back from LSU for his abysmal results on the IQ-like test.
After experiencing first-hand the internet scorn that often accompanies being a professional athlete, Claiborne decided to defend himself and his Wonderlic score.
“They say it’s an IQ test. I came to the combine for football. I looked at the test, and (there) wasn’t any questions about football. I didn’t see no point in the test. I’m not in school anymore. I didn’t complete it. I only finished 15 or 18 questions," Claiborne told reporters Thursday after being selected.
“That test don’t tell me who I am and what type of guy I am and what kind of ability I have. That test can’t drop me," he added.
The Cowboys are clearly not concerned about Claiborne’s low score, or his reasons behind it. They traded up — giving the St. Louis Rams two picks — in order to snag him as a much needed boost to their secondary.
During an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Claiborne also revealed that he has struggled with a learning disability for years, and that that is part of the reason he was so affected by the internet criticism.
However, LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis told ESPN that Claiborne "had no problem picking up anything in our system and doing all the things we wanted him to do."
