[FootballMuse]

Perhaps they do, but I wouldn't restrict it to just being "better students" or not.

"elite athletes...perform better than the rest of us in yet another way. These athletes excel...in how fast their brains take in and respond to new information -- cognitive abilities that are important on and off the court." [1]

[1]: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130318151634.ht...

[mathattack]

This seems more intuitive. Better athletes being quick on their feet figuratively as well as literally. This (and confidence) may be a reason that athletes make good salespeople. And it could explain why so many are traders.

I've seen much less as research professors or computer programmers. This could also be because the time commitments required in school for these topics is inconsistent with what's required to do sports competitively.

I'm not saying that exercise is bad. I'm positive that it's good. It's just my perception that those who exercise more in their youth tended not to be the best students.

[nicholassmith]

"It's just my perception that those who exercise more in their youth tended not to be the best students."

There's also the perception when you're younger (or at least distinctly for me and the people I grew up with), that being smart was 'boring' and being sporty was better, so they wouldn't apply themselves in lessons because it wasn't cool. I imagine a lot of them were plenty smart, but they might not have let on.

[mathattack]

Some of us nerds thought staying inside was more fun. Why waste all that time playing basketball when you could get ahead in the chemistry lab?

[nicholassmith]

As someone who was distinctly non-sporty I can't say I disagree, reading was far more enjoyable than running around in the cold kicking a ball.