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SALT LAKE CITY -- When you think of how much a quarterback is paid, you'd think it depends on throwing touchdown passes, passing yards, completion percentages and not throwing interceptions. But Southern Utah University economics professor David Berri says there is something else, too.
"What's surprising is the attractiveness of the quarterback. They actually get paid more money if they are more attractive," he said.
It's not subjective, either.
"You can actually measure a person's facial symmetry, and that facial symmetry correlates very highly with how attractive people think a person is," he said.
Berri says quarterbacks with more symmetrical facial features make more money. His research also found that while an average person's face is about 90 percent symmetrical, NFL quarterbacks rated 96 percent.
Berri says it should be that the better players are paid more.
"The problem with football, although we have statistics and numbers, is that performance is hard to predict. People start looking at things outside the numbers to see what will predict success in the future."
Berri writes on the economics of sports. He is about to finish his second book, "Stumbling on Wins." It outlines ways in which coaches, managers and executives in professional sports overlook or mischaracterize pertinent facts about players and team management.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
