Smartest and dumbest athletes

Mike Tyson isn't dumb, nor is he considered dumb. The media eats up his loaded quasi-articulate statements.

Tiger is definitely smart... Tyson is not that dumb though. He's not brilliant, but he has a pretty good vocabulary. He just comes across as pretty dumb because of his high-pitched voice and the fact that he is really messed up due to various mental disorders.

This is tough... smartest athletes... I can't think of any GREAT athletes that I think are super smart, like in the 140+ IQ range. There are plenty of great athletes who are of above average intelligence. In fact, I'd say a lot of the best athletes are of above average intelligence... both Michaels, Jordan and Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bo Jackson (he is married to a PhD holder), lots of quarterbacks... heck, even someone like Randy Moss is not a dumb person. His actions are dumb, but I guarantee you he could learn relatively high level math (say, first semester of calculus) if he wanted to. Let's see, dumbest... Devin Hester doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent... umm... Xavier Carter? Vince Young?

Why don't you say that to my face! I'll bite your ear off mother f***er!!

Dumbest-JaMarcus Russell didn't sound very smart when he was interviewed at the college championship game.

Smartest-Bill Bradley

I seem to recall that Bill Bradley's SAT scores were not particularly high at all.

DUDE JORDAN HASAY IS THE SMARTEST!!

4.83 GPA, almost ALL honors/AP courses!

OR CHRIS DERRICK!!

4.00 unweighted all through high school, 4.57 GPA cumulative, (VERY impressive) 2320 SAT score.. going to Stanford..

I know this is from the runner bubble, but Alan Webb is not so intelligent (makes me wonder if classes had anything to do with his dropping out of Michigan and not just poor running). Also, Ben Wallace and Marvin Harrison aren't the brightest crayons in the box.

Some former athletes that seem to be fairly intelligent include Tiki Barber, Mike Golic, Sean Salsbury (although not a stud quarterback), Greg Anthony, and Troy Aikmen, to name a few.

Agreeable wrote:

I seem to recall that Bill Bradley's SAT scores were not particularly high at all.

Mr Rhodes must have thought they were high enough.

I know this statement doesn't apply to all, but I would imagine most pro golfers are relatively intelligent/educated. Golfing is expensive, and since you have to play golf from an early age to be really good, most golfers parents have money. Therefore, most golfers were sent to the best schools, and are well-educated. I know this isn't always the case, but I bet it is moreso than football and basketball

Almost any of the doctors would qualify. Roger Bannister (who was knighted for his medical work, not his running), certainly.

Frank Shorter is pretty smart. Ditto Craig Masback (don't start--Princeton UG and Yale Law is a helluva combo).

Hard to come up with dummies. (I remember learning in grad school that there's actually a pretty solid positive correlation between athletic ability and IQ.) Gerry obviously isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think it's more a question of character disorder--he most likely has a three-digit IQ.

[Besides, "no brain, no pain," right?]

Outside of running? Well, David Robinson (is that the name? Basketball player out of USNA) had something around a 1400 on the pre-recentering SAT. I'm told that Kobe Bryant is also pretty bright.

Actually, I suspect it would be difficult to find many players in US pro leagues who are truly dumb. Uneducated or uncouth, maybe, but not unintelligent--I just don't think many people would work up to the highest levels in a physical activity, if they didn't have some smarts to organize and direct their effort.

Reggie Jackson, the baseball player, was supposed to have an above 160 IQ. Muhammed Ali tested very low on his IQ (around 75) but was obviously bright.

In terms of runners, I've heard that Frank Fredericks is very smart, having majored in computer science, as well as Donovan Bailey, who supposedly made millions as a stockbroker before becoming a runner. Ato Boldon supposedly had extremely high SAT scores, making the 1996 100 meter final a battle of the brains.

For distance runners, Sebastian Coe has been a success in British politics. Haile Gebrselassie also seems smart ...

Smart? Paul Gompers is, based on his current position and degrees, a pretty bright bulb. Also, and I admit I'm biased since I also have a PhD in Algebraic Geometry, Gwyn Coogan. I used to run with Guy Arbogast. He seemed pretty sharp.

Dumb? Given what I've seen on this site, many - actually, most - posters here. In particular, I'd say the BroJo's are good candidates. They have apparently received their degrees only by virtue of the most insidious sort of affirmative action.

Edwin Moses should be popping up in this discussion.

Truly stupid athletes almost never get good enough to be famous (Ken Clean-Air Systems excepted).

Smartest football: Barry Sanders, Mark Schlereth

Smartest basketball: Steve Kerr, David Robinson

Dumbest football: Edgerin James, Kellen Winslow

Dumbest basketball: Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson

As for Bradley and the Rhodes, I think by the time you get through four years of college, your SAT scores don't factor into the equation very much.

Daniel Lincoln is clearly quite smart. Lynn Jennings is extremely smart. And Shorter and Masback, as mentioned, are highly intelligent.

Oh me! Oh me! 150+ IQ, 1500+ SAT

[quote]jsquire wrote:

Truly stupid athletes almost never get good enough to be famous"

I disagree

on the dumb side i'll nominate casey combest. this is based largely on anecdotal evidence from my high school days in kentucky, but man, if even a quarter of that is true, this guy is in trouble.