There are many journalists whose work I read on a regular basis. NBC Sports’ Mike Florio’s Pro Football Talk was one of them.

Not anymore.

His post on LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne scoring a four on the Wonderlic test was written poorly. Tasteless. The comments that followed his article were even more sickening.

CBSSports.com National Columnist Greg Doyel is another journalist I read. In his latest column on Claiborne, he encapsulated everything I was thinking; pointing out that Claiborne has a learning disability and maybe – just maybe – it may have played a significant role in why his score was as low as it was. However, that was beside the point, Claiborne is a young man. He is human. I’m sure that Florio didn’t take those two scenarios into consideration.

The reason why I think I’m so enraged with Florio’s comments is because like Claiborne, I, too, suffer from a learning disability coupled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). While Claiborne’s learning disability has to do with reading, mine deals with memory and the ability to process patterns, diagrams and pictures.

I can’t help but think back to my short stint at a local newspaper here in Syracuse. For me, as a working journalist, I relied heavily on my tape recorder. I couldn’t write and ask questions at the same time. I opted to work from home a lot because I couldn’t be on the phone and take down a person’s answers in the office. My tape recorder was my security blanket. At home I was able to call up the interviewee, push record and have a conversation.

I could do my job, but I had to work awfully hard at it than most editors in the newsroom. That in itself created more stress and anxiety.

Get where I’m going here? While my passion is still writing, I simply could not go on. I’ve learned to adapt and find a different alternative.

As Doyel points out, maybe he wasn’t a good test taker. My SAT and ACT scores were horrendous. I got into Gannon University by the skin of my teeth and with help of my former lacrosse coach. Does that mean I’m stupid? Absolutely not. To this day, I would rather write a 1,000 word essay than take a multiple choice test.

I envied those people at college that could glance through their notebooks one time and be ready for the test the following morning. Here I am, busting my ass, making
200-plus note cards and I only get an 80?! Such is life.

The “dumb jock” stigma is something that athletes will never get away from. It’s part of the sports culture. However, Florio fails to realize that being a student-athlete, no matter what division or sport, is a full-time job. Let’s look beyond the score, too, and see that he is a great young man. Why should the No. 4 define who he is as person?

While Florio may have gotten a brief rise out of the situation, Claiborne will ultimately get the last laugh ... to the bank.