The NFL Draft is supposed to be the biggest moment of a young player’s life — where years of grinding, sacrificing, and waiting finally get paid off with a simple phone call. But for Shedeur Sanders, that moment turned into a prank.

Not a cute one either. A full-blown fake-out that came during the most stressful stretch of his career. Some guy pretending to be an NFL GM called him up, told him he was about to be picked… and then hung up. 

And the worst part? He wasn’t the only one. What should’ve been a weekend full of dreams came with a side of middle school-level pranks that made the league look sloppy and left several prospects second-guessing every buzz in their pocket.

The Fake Call That Made a Real Mess

Sanders entered the weekend thinking the top 40 felt like a decent floor. Instead, the former Buffalo slid all the way to pick 144. The free fall hurt enough on its own, but the sucker punch arrived midway through Day 2.

Ring, ring.

The caller ID flashed a Louisiana area code, and the voice on the other end said it was Saints GM Mickey Loomis.

We're going to take you with our next pick, man, but you're going to have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that.

Then the line went dead. Sanders eventually laughed it off, but he also pointed out something far more troubling: only NFL coaches had the draft‑day phone number that rang his pocket. So how did a random college kid get it?

He would eventually learn through an NFL investigation that it was pulled by 21‑year‑old Jax Ulbrich, son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. 

When Dad’s iPad Becomes the Crime Scene

This wasn’t some elite hacker. It was a college kid visiting his parents who looked down at his dad’s unlocked iPad and jotted the number down, according to the Falcons’ internal review.

That seemingly harmless joke cost the Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich another $100K out of his own wallet once the league ruled Atlanta “failed to prevent the disclosure of confidential information.” 

Ulbrich took the L head‑on. He apologized to Deion and Shedeur, called the prank “inexcusable,” and said the Falcons wouldn’t appeal. Meanwhile, Jax posted on social media:

On Friday night, I made a tremendous mistake. Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful. I'm so sorry I took away from your moment; it was selfish and childish. I could never imagine getting ready to celebrate one of the greatest moments of your life, and I made a terrible mistake and messed with that moment. Thank you for accepting my call earlier today. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

Not an Isolated Incident

Shedeur’s story blew up because he’s Shedeur — Deion’s kid, spring Heisman darling, social‑media magnet. But then the stories started rolling in — it felt like every few hours, another player came forward saying they’d been hit with a fake draft call. What started as one bizarre incident quickly turned into a trend, and not the kind you want going viral on draft weekend.

• Abdul Carter, LB, Giants – Someone masquerading as a Jaguars exec told him Jacksonville was swooping at No. 2. His agent sniffed out the B.S. before Carter’s family could fire off celebratory Instagram Lives.

• Tyler Warren, TE, Colts – Fielded a first‑round prank while the Jets were on the clock. Warren’s camp later said the incoming number matched the area code in the Sanders incident.

• Mason Graham, DT, Browns – He got hit with a prank call before Shedeur — but that wasn’t the end of it. The person who made the call recorded it with the number showing and threw it up on TikTok, and once that video started making the rounds, Mason Graham’s phone basically turned into a call center.

• Kyle McCord, QB, Eagles – Admitted he hesitated when Philly rang for real: “I got a few prank calls from 609 numbers and 215 numbers, so when I got that 215 phone call, I was thinking it was another prank call. But picking up the phone and having Howie on the other side, it was pretty cool.”

• Chase Lundt, OT, Bills – Chase Lundt said he got four or five fake draft calls before the real one finally came in — and by that point, he didn’t know if he should be excited or brace for another letdown. Imagine trying to process the most important call of your life while sorting through a pile of prank calls like it’s a bad episode of Punk’d.

From Eye‑Roll to Hammer Drop

Historically, the NFL would slap wrists with a “don’t do that again” memo. This time, the league actually did something — and fast. Within just a couple of days, they pieced together what happened, tracked where the prank came from, and hit the Falcons with some real consequences. No wrist slaps, no quiet memos — just actual action, and quickly. That’s a pretty rare thing when it comes to the NFL dealing with this kind of nonsense. 

Commissioner Roger Goodell’s camp also stressed that the other prank calls appear unconnected to the Ulbrich incident — but investigations remain open.

Now that this mess has unfolded, there’s been a lot of talk around the league about how to tighten things up before next year’s draft. One of the most common ideas being floated around is having teams use FaceTime or video calls to make it crystal clear that the call is legit. That way, a prospect isn’t left guessing if the voice on the other end is actually their new GM or just some guy messing around for social media clout. It’s not a perfect solution — especially with the advancement of AI these days — but it’s something.

Another smart solution that’s been thrown around is flipping the order of how these moments happen. Instead of the team calling the player before the pick is announced, let the moment unfold live on TV — have the league announce the pick first, and then the team calls the player right after. That way, you get the raw, emotional, unfiltered reaction from the player and their family in real time, and you eliminate any opportunity for a prank to sneak in beforehand. It’s clean, it’s secure, and honestly, it would make for some amazing TV too. 

Teams, for their part, are starting to take internal security way more seriously. A few have already put new rules in place: locking down access to draft contact sheets, restricting who can view them, and even disabling screens if they’re left idle too long. No more letting your kid scroll on your team-issued tablet while you make coffee. Everyone’s on high alert now, and rightfully so.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The league won’t admit it on record, but you can bet draft‑week orientation for 2026 prospects will include a full presentation on how to spot a prank call. Teams and agents will probably be coaching guys on what to say, what not to believe, and how to double-check who's really on the line before they react.

On the team side, we’ll see a mini arms race in digital hygiene. Expect some front offices to treat draft‑week devices like top‑secret NASA laptops — nobody in or out without an encrypted swipe.

As for the pranksters, they’re already footnotes. Hopefully, even the ones who never get caught take a minute to think about how it would feel if someone did that to them. Imagining themselves finally reaching their dream career moment — years of work, all that buildup — and instead of celebrating, they're left confused or embarrassed because someone thought it’d be funny to hijack that. There’s just no excuse for it.

Let the Moment Be Theirs

For Shedeur Sanders, Abdul Carter, Tyler Warren, Mason Graham, Kyle McCord, Chase Lundt, and any other prospects who got roped into this nonsense, you just hope that their rookie seasons have fewer people looking to steal the spotlight or mess with their moment. That first NFL call is supposed to be something you remember forever — for all the right reasons. Instead, some of these guys were left questioning if the moment they waited their whole life for was even real.

And for the rest of us? Let’s keep the prank calls where they belong — April 1, with your buddies. Not on draft weekend, not when someone’s life is about to change. That moment belongs to the players who earned it, not to people chasing a cheap laugh.