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Don’t expect another viral prank call in the 2026 NFL draft.
With a few days to go until the draft gets underway in Pittsburgh, the league announced it’s making one key change to help prevent future prank calls targeting NFL prospects. This year, the NFL will limit access to prospects’ contact information to one person with each franchise, according to The Athletic.
“The relevant contact information will be provided by the league to a single point of contact at the club in football operations,” a league spokesman told The Athletic. “This individual will be responsible for safeguarding the numbers.”
The move comes in the wake of an incident that happened during last year’s draft involving Shedeur Sanders. Before Sanders was selected by the Browns in the fifth round at No. 144, he was live-streaming his draft watch party from his dad Deion’s house in Texas. On the second day of the draft, Sanders was seen on the Twitch stream receiving a phone call from an unknown number who was impersonating Saints general manager Mickey Loomis ahead of the team’s No. 40 pick.
The prank caller was later revealed to be Jax Ulbrich, the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. Jax issued a public statement apologizing to Sanders for the cruel trick:
“On Friday night, I made a tremendous mistake,” Ulbrich wrote on Instagram. "Sheduer [sic], 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."
Jax had obtained Sanders’s draft contact phone number off an open iPad while visiting his parents’ home, per a statement released by the Falcons. His dad Jeff was unaware of the prank. The league fined the Falcons $250,000 and coach Ulbrich $100,000 after an investigation into the incident.
Which other prospects were prank-called in the 2025 NFL draft?
Sanders wasn’t the only one to fall victim to a prank last year. Before the Sanders prank went viral, then-Browns rookie defensive tackle Mason Graham received a prank call ahead of Cleveland’s No. 5 pick.
“Yeah—that happened,” Graham’s dad, Allen, told The Detroit Free Press over text. “Someone made a TikTok while crank [sic] calling him & showed his number on the video ... his phone was getting called nonstop.”
Tyler Warren, who was drafted by the Colts with the No. 14 pick, was also reportedly prank-called while the Jets were on the clock for the No. 7 pick. The impersonators behind the Graham and Warren prank calls were not publicly known or caught.
In the messy aftermath of at least three prank calls from the 2025 draft, the NFL has made a critical change to better contain prospects’ contact information and prevent future mean-spirited shenanigans. Here’s hoping it will work come Thursday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Makes Smart Move to Tighten Up Draft After Viral Shedeur Sanders Prank Call in 2025.
