1. Agree on the projection part, but not sure if I can entirely blame the NFL on this one, the machines they use for the tests ask the race of the subject. The original ones I had to take in the military did the same thing, but they were swapped out in 2012 as far as I know.

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2. So here is the problem that nobody really wants to talk about. “How do different races test in the cognitive ability tests?”

   If the population at large in the US has an IQ of 100 ( a fairly normal assumption ), using the same tests, how do the different races map out. There is some evidence to suggest that different races test differently.

   NOTICE: This does not mean that one race is smarter or dumber than another, it just says that they are getting different scores on the tests.

   So lets say we have a group of players joining the NFL. We give them all the test as they enter and then later, a subset of that group of players files claims for brain injury.

   We give them the same test, compare to the original test results and we can see if there is any difference. Of course the player could cheat the system by attempting to perform at a lower level, but lets assume they don’t.

   The change in cognitive function as objectively measured by those tests can be used as an indication of how much brain damage they have sustained.

   Now lets say that we don’t test each player but only a statistically valid subset. Now we have an average for the NFL. If we now test a new player, who has not played and they score less than that average they are already “below average”. If that player were to then claim TBI has lowered their cognitive abilities, even if there is no TBI, they are going to show lower than the average and they will be given some amount of money.

   Now lets say that we take that same sample and we break it up into two groups. QBs, WR, and RB vs Line men.

   What if those two groups have different averages? What if we find that the line men test 10% lower than the others? Now if a QB comes and tests at “average” he’s being cheated out of his cut. If the lineman tests at average, he’s cheating the fund.

   If you can make statistically valid groups and show that those groups have different average scores then you can better detect who actually has TBI and should be compensated.

   Now, what happens if one of those groups has a different skin tone than the others? Is it racist or is it statistics.

   1. I would bet that offensive linemen will test higher than average. It takes discipline to work that position.

      And as far as “AVERAGE,” IQ tests follow a Gaussian Normal Distribution, AKA a Bell Curve. I know Black men smarter than me, and I know Asians and Jews dumber than me. It isn’t the race, it is the INDIVIDUAL.

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      1. @rd, and IQ of 100 is “average” by design. It is the “mean” to be more precise. This means that some will test higher and some lower and that 50% will group within one sigma of 100.

         This is a statistic. Statistics are NOT people. They don’t tell you diddly about any particular person.

         Thomas Sowell is likely more intelligent than most gang bangers in Chicago. The averages don’t apply to him any more than they apply to the individual gang banger. In addition, Thomas is going to test higher because he has more practice taking tests. Heck, he designed them as a professor teaching at university.

         I don’t know what the average IQ of an NFL player is. I don’t know what the average IQ of QBs or offensive linemen is. But I’m willing to bet dollars that it is different.

         And that is the point of what the NFL was attempting to do. They were looking at a way of figuring out what the average of that particular group was.

         In the same way, they likely wouldn’t want to compare the test results of those claiming TBI injuries to members of Mensa. Or to recent graduates of STEM courses or researchers at a national laboratory. They want to compare to people in the group “NFL Players.”

         And I’d be willing to bet that they did research on test results and they found a pattern. The problem is that the pattern correlated with skin tone.

         My go to example of this is “speeding tickets on NJ (Or PA I can’t remember) Turnpike.” If the percentage of tickets given to PoC is higher than the percentage of PoC drivers does this indicate that PoC speed more often or does it indicate that the police are racist? It turned out that objectively PoC were speeding more than non PoC and therefore accounted for more speeding violations. Violation percentages as determined by traffic cameras exactly matched the ticket percentages.

         Again, statistics are not people, but statistics are pretty darn good at telling you what groups will do if they are honest statistics.

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         1. You misspelled PoS.

3. The best way is to test every player at the start of each training camp

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   1. An interesting factoid about some IQ tests is that your IQ will go down as you age. When I was a kid my parents somehow got me tested on an adult IQ test. Don’t know how or why, it happened.

      And on that test I scored very high. The reason was that there was an age factor. Where they took the raw score and multiplied it by a number derived from your age.

      Because I was way under the age the test was designed for, when my age was factored in, according to the formula, my adjusted score was very high. Even though my raw score was not as high as many other people that took the test as adults.

      So testing each player at the start of training camp is not a bad idea but it gives rise to two different problems, the first is does age affect scores (and does multiple administration of a test affect scores) and the other is can the player now “cheat” during the test of ability after injury

4. If they know that playing football is dangerous, then why have football? On the other hand, why compensate for injuries, knowing ahead of time of the dangers?

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   1. Because someone is responsible for paying for stupidity? Just curious.

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