On one personality test, Hernandez, who was arrested last week on murder and weapons charges, received the lowest possible score, 1 out of 10, in the category of "social maturity."
The evaluation, which was done before the New England Patriots selected Hernandez in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, was produced by a North Carolina scouting service called Human Resource Tactics.
The one-page form, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, includes scores Hernandez received on several tests routinely administered to NFL draft prospects. The results of these tests are kept confidential.
The Patriots declined to comment on whether they had seen the report before drafting Hernandez. Hernandez's attorney, Michael Fee, didn't return messages seeking comment.
The evaluation done on Hernandez was devised by Dr. Mike Sanders, a partner at HRT and an adjunct professor in the psychology department at North Carolina State University. According to his personal website, Sanders has provided consultative support to elite military units belonging to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. Sanders declined to comment on the Hernandez report. He said 18 teams subscribe to HRT's scouting service but declined to say if the Patriots are one of them.
While psychological profiles can be subjective and far from foolproof, NFL experts say the majority of teams use them to guide their draft choices.
When it comes to Hernandez's acumen for football, the report didn't mince words: It considered him a remarkably qualified candidate, giving him an overall "motivational and mental" test score of 10 out of 10.
In the section of the report labeled "Sigma Motivation" in which Hernandez got a 1 out of 10 in "Social Maturity," he received a perfect 10 for "Focus," two nines in "Self-Efficacy" and "Receptivity to Coaching" and 7 out of 10 for "Dedication." In a section labeled "Mental Ability," Hernandez was given a perfect 10 in "Mental Quickness."
Under "Strengths," the report listed Hernandez's dedication, work ethic and self-confidence. It predicted he would quickly recover from mistakes and bad breaks. "Hernandez sees himself as a football player above all else," the report said. "He will place a high priority on football and what it takes to be successful." Hernandez was also described as being highly responsive to coaching.
In the section marked "Weaknesses," the report predicted Hernandez might get along well with most of his teammates, but "will find very little time to help them." His responses, it added, "suggest he enjoys living on the edge of acceptable behavior and that he may be prone to partying too much and doing questionable things that could be seen as a problem for him and his team."
The psychological portion of HRT's testing appears to be based on personality tests developed by Sigma Assessment Systems, a Michigan company. A spokeswoman said Sigma had no specific tests that measure the characteristics HRT lists on its report, but that some of its assessment techniques could be used to derive such scores. "I have no way of knowing whether that's a solid approach," the spokeswoman said.
The report said Hernandez scored 17 on a test devised by Wonderlic, an Illinois assessment firm, that measures how well people comprehend problems and how quickly they can solve them. That score was below average but "above the typical minimum for his position," the report said.
Bill Polian, former general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, said his team was looking for a tight end at the 2010 draft, but steered clear of Hernandez. "There were questions there, which is why a guy of that talent lasted until the fourth round," he said. The Colts, he added, "never got that far" in their evaluation of the player. "We were not in the Hernandez business." The Colts couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Sanders declined to say whether the Colts were an HRT client.