While broadcasting his National Football League (NFL) Draft watch party on April 25, Shedeur Sanders got a phone call from someone asserting to be the representative of the New Orleans Saints. Pretending to be the Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis, the caller disclosed that it was a prank and abruptly terminated the call. This raised alarm among the NFL administration since the call was placed to a phone that had been given to Sanders by the NFL for official draft communications.

Several other leading NFL Draft prospects also reported receiving prank calls during the draft weekend. The NFL initiated an investigation concerning the calls to ascertain whether there had been a leak of the players' private contact information.

What was the prank call regarding Sanders?

During Sanders’ live stream, he took the call and put it on speakerphone so that all viewers could hear it as well. He interacted with the impersonator, who guaranteed him that he would be chosen next for the drafts. Once the caller disclosed that the call was a joke, Sanders was left perplexed and uncertain. Shortly after, the Saints picked Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough instead.

“It didn’t really affect me because it was just like, I mean, okay, like I don’t engage with negativity or I don’t engage with that kind of stuff. You’ve seen [it on the] YouTube video. My response to it, I don’t – it is what it is. I think of course it is immature. Of course, I feel like it was an immature act, but everyone does immature things occasionally,” Sanders told NBC Sports.

The NFL's reply

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL is currently looking into how Sanders’ personal draft phone number was leaked. Sanders informed his brother Shilo Sanders that the number was shared solely in an email conversation directed only to NFL teams, and he also suggested that it is possible that the child of an NFL executive could have obtained the contact details.

Who's the mastermind behind this?

Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of the Atlanta Falcons' defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, confessed to prank calling Shedeur Sanders after he stumbled upon the draft details, including Sanders' phone number, on his dad's unlocked iPad. On April 27, Jax took to social media to apologize, admitting he had made a huge mistake and that his actions were both selfish and immature. The Falcons issued a statement about the incident, clarifying how Jax got hold of Sanders' private number. They expressed, 'The Atlanta Falcons do not support this kind of behavior and extend our heartfelt apologies to Shedeur Sanders and his family, with whom we've been in touch to express our regrets, and we are also working to ensure Jax can apologize directly to the Sanders family.'

Did any other prank calls happen?

As reported by Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports, former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren also experienced a prank call during the draft. Schultz noted that Warren’s team suspects it was the same number that was linked to the Shedeur Sanders prank on April 25. However, Jax Ulbrich only admitted responsibility for the Sanders prank call – not for any other player’s.

Additionally, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. com mentions that there was a third player who received a prank call during the draft – apart from Sanders and Warren. The third prospect received a call approximately half-an-hour after being selected and was informed that he was being traded.

Kyle McCord of the Philadelphia Eagles and Chase Lundt of the Buffalo Bills were also subject to prank calls on draft day as well.

Lundt mentioned that he received about “4 to 5 calls” from individuals posing as team representatives, while McCord stated, “I got a few prank calls earlier in the day from 609 numbers and 215 numbers. When I picked up that 215 call, I assumed it was just another prank call. However, receiving the call and having Howie [Roseman] on the other end was quite cool. ” Roseman is the executive vice president of the Eagles.

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