Last Thursday, the 2025 NFL draft took place in Green Bay, Wisconsin. One issue the NFL ran into this draft season was prank calls from outside numbers.
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders received a prank call from Jax Ulbrich. Son of Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich. As a result, Atlanta was fined $250,000 by the NFL, and Jeff Ulbrich was fined $100,000 by the Falcons. His son got Sanders’ number from his iPad. Several top prospects were prank-called during the draft. The latest to share their story was Giants rookie Abdul Carter.
Abdul Carter revealed he was another player who was pranked during the draft
Adds context to Rosenhaus’ reaction on Hey Rookie when the call from Giants comes in, which was with 5:00 on the clock. So Giants did not wait long, as Schoen said, despite what the clock showed on the TV broadcast. You can see the clock in the draft room when he is telling…
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) April 30, 2025
ESPN’s Adam Shefter reported that Abdul Carter was another high-profile prospect who was pranked on draft night. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said Carter received the prank call when the Jaguars were on the clock with the #2 pick. The call told Carter that Jacksonville was going to select him with the second overall pick. Rosenhaus says that Carter and he knew the call was not real. Minutes later, he received a call from the Giants and was drafted third overall.
Rosenhaus said it’s “unfortunate” that these private numbers are being leaked. The league is still looking into who pranked Abdul Carter. His caller is not the same person who pranked Shedeur Sanders. It’s a shame that these athletes have to deal with that type of behavior. They wait their whole lives to be drafted. The last thing that should be happening is them receiving a prank call.
Luckily for Abdul Carter, he was the next pick after he was pranked. The same cannot be said for other players. Colts TE Tyler Warren was pranked while the Jets were on the board at #7. However, he was not selected until Indianapolis picked at #14. The worst of them all was Browns QB Shedeur Sanders. He was pranked in the second round and was not selected until the fifth round.
