The NFL has reportedly launched an investigation into the draft weekend prank calls that targeted Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren. While the biggest story of the weekend was Sanders’s slide from a possible first-round pick to a fifth-round selection of the Cleveland Browns, the Friday night prank call that Sanders received is the league’s biggest issue coming out of a messy weekend in Green Bay.
Per a report for Fox Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, Warren’s camp believes that the call that he received on Thursday night, with the prank callers posing as the New York Jets front office while the team was on the clock with the seventh overall pick, came from the same area code as the one Sanders’s got the very next night. The caller has since been identified as Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, but in the Falcons' official statement, the only call mentioned was to Sanders. It did not include a mention of Warren.
Sources: Penn State TE Tyler Warren was also prank called during the draft, receiving a call when the #Jets were on the clock at No. 7. I’m told Warren’s camp believes it was the same number and/or area code involved in the Shedeur Sanders prank on Friday night.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 27, 2025
NFL teams have… pic.twitter.com/dJrF9Ir22s
The Jets selected Missouri right tackle Armand Membou at No. 7, and Warren slipped to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 14 as the second TE selected, four picks after Michigan’s Colston Loveland.
On Friday night, Sanders received a call from Ulbrich claiming to be Saints general manager Mickey Loomis minutes before the Saints selected Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the eighth pick of the second round. The incident was caught on camera as the Sanders family was documenting Shedeur’s entire draft weekend in Texas while the selections were announced in Green Bay.
An NFL official said the league is looking into how Shedeur Sanders’ private number was leaked and then used for this prank call: pic.twitter.com/h5P1CIIQlI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2025
NFL reportedly launches investigation into cruel draft prank-calls
As Shedeur mentions in the video, before going to consult with his father, coach, and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, “nobody got this number, though.”
In another video that has since been deleted, Shedeur said that he was given a private phone from Boost Mobile for the draft and that the number was only given to NFL personnel.
Sanders and Warren weren’t the only players to reference prank calls. Syracuse and former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord also mentioned receiving prank calls from Philadelphia area codes before he was ultimately selected by the Eagles in the sixth round on Saturday.
Receiving the call from an NFL head coach or general manager on draft day has to be one of the most thrilling moments of the player’s entire life, so it's uniquely cruel for prank-callers to prey on that sense of anticipation. The NFL has to do everything it can to protect its future players from this type of hijinx, and the investigation should only be the start.
Atlanta Falcons release statement identifying prank caller as Jeff Ulbrich's son
Falcons’ statement on the involvement of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son, Jax, in the draft weekend prank call to Shedeur Sanders: pic.twitter.com/PgSxURroaY
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2025
Now that the caller, at least in Sanders' case, has been identified, the NFL must to everything it can to evaluate its process for disseminating prospect's phone numbers to avoid a situation like this in the future. Especially with the Falcons only mentioned Sanders, not Warren or McCord. It's possible that other callers were responsible for those instances, but at this point, the origin of those alleged prank calls is not known.