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Shedeur Sanders was one of a number of players who fell victim to prank calls during the 2025 NFL Draft after he got punked by the son of the defensive coordinator for the Falcons. Adam Schefter floated a theory to explain how the culprit got the quarterback’s number, which may have been linked to his decision to decline to sign with an agent after wrapping up his time in college.
By now, virtually every football fan is familiar with the brutal slide Shedeur Sanders endured during the NFL Draft before he was finally selected by the Browns in the fifth round with the 144th overall pick.
The former Colorado QB was viewed as a potential first-round pick after wrapping up his time in Boulder, and while there was plenty of writing on the wall concerning the decline of his draft stock in the weeks leading up to the event, most people were shocked to see him fall as far as he did.
Sanders did get a glimmer of hope on the second day of the draft when he got a phone call from someone claiming to be Saints GM Mickey Loomis, who informed him he was ging to be their next pick only to tell him he’d have to wait longer before hanging up—a prank orchestrated by Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
The college student issued an apology after admitting he took down Sanders’ number after spotting it on his dad’s iPad, although it wasn’t entirely clear why the DC for the Falcons would have it in the first place when you consider A) Atlanta wasn’t in the market for a QB and B) he presumably wouldn’t be involved in those draft conversations to the point where he’d need his contact information if they were.
However, based on what Adam Schefter had to say on Tuesday, it may have been due to Sanders’ decision to forgo any official representation aside from his dad Deion and go through the draft process without an agent.
Another side to the Shedeur Sanders’ slide and the prank call that he subsequently received.
With @tyschmit
🎧 https://t.co/bfP466SZe3 pic.twitter.com/zoVWoiMm6y
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 29, 2025
The insider shared a text he received from an NFL source on the most recent installment of The Adam Schefter Podcast that noted Sanders’ number (one he’d acquired specifically for the draft) was widely disseminated across the league even though most players opt to be contacted through an agent, with his contact saying:
“The Shedeur prank thing is awful but shows their naivete by not hiring an agent. The fact that they had the league send his number to the entire football distribution list was such a mistake—one that wouldn’t have happened with an agent who would have handled that communication.
I’ve never seen the league share a draft prospect’s number with the entire distribution list. As soon as I saw the email on draft day, I was like, ‘Oh no,’ and the league probably shouldn’t have disseminated it the way that they did knowing it was ripe for abuse.”
It’s worth noting Sanders wasn’t the only person to fall victim to a similar call during the draft, as the NFL says it’s conducting an investigation into others targeting players including Mason Graham and Tyler Warren (who respectively went to the Browns and the Colts in the first round).
It doesn’t seem like those numbers would have gotten out for the same reason, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the league has to say.