Mel Kiper wasn’t the only football analyst who lost his marbles when Shedeur Sanders dropped to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, which will forever be one of the unforgettable draft stories in NFL history, whether or not the Colorado quarterback becomes an NFL force.
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The reasons behind his slide from projected first-round pick to Day 3 are multi-layered and vary along cultural, racial, analytical and professional lines but it sparked vicious debates and memes from across the sports spectrum.
The attacks against Shedeur Sanders’ character and ability avalanched into one of the worst possible pranks in Draft history.
With the picks coming off the board faster than Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston ran the 40-yard dash time at the 2025 combine, Sanders received a prank call on Thursday night from a person pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
RG3 Blasts Jax Ulbrich For Draft Day Prank On Shedeur Sanders
RG3 was dumbfounded that the Saints would grade Tyler Shough over Sanders and says the selection and the prank should have of never happened.
“Jax Ulbrich was completely wrong for helping prank call Shedeur Sanders when the New Orleans Saints were on the clock. Wasn’t funny. At All. It shouldn’t have been a prank because the Saints shouldn’t have drafted Tyler Shough over Shedeur Sanders.”
With how explosive and dire the situation was for Sanders, the prank was nasty work by any person. But the fact that the perpetrator turned out to be the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, the story took on a more serious tone.
Stephen A. Smith didn’t approve of the coverage, or lackthereof, concerning the identity of the perpetrator. He also hopes his dad handled the situation old school style.
“I sincerely hope he whipped his kid’s ass. That’s an ass whipping. That is a required ass whipping,” Smith said on Monday’s “First Take.”
Jax Ulbrich Apologizes To Save Dad’s Job
Ulbrich, whose job was thought to be in jeopardy after the identity of the prankster was revealed to the public, released a statement on the incident on Sunday.
“Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable,” the statement read (with the original one misspelling Sanders’ first name). “I’m so sorry I took away from your moment, it was selfish and childish.”
In a video circulating on social media, the prank caller was heard impersonating Loomis and tricking Sanders into believing he was about to be drafted. Under the circumstances it was the worst possible thing that could happen to Sanders, who was undoubtedly panicking inside, although he kept a calm demeanor, a smile on his face and credited his faith in God throughout the painful three-day ordeal.
“It’s been a long wait, man,” he said. “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.”
Social media went wild with the story and initial rumors implicated the daughter of New York Giants GM Joe Schoen, who was not involved in the fiasco. The Falcons also released a statement on Sunday, and according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team will not take any action against its defensive coordinator.
They will review protocols to avoid incidents of players’ personal numbers ending up in the hands of privileged college kids lost in the blind clout-chase, race of social media, forgetting that these are real people living real lives.
The draft fall of Shedeur Sanders put the NFL in the spotlight, stealing the headlines and smothering the NBA Playoffs and MLB season that’s in full swing
Social Media Reacts To Nasty Shedeur Sanders Draft Prank
There were some fans clearly on the Sanders hate train that tried to downplay the situation. The majority of comments condemned the act and wanted to know how Sanders’ number was leaked.
“Jaxson dart going to the giants from ole miss where Shedeur wanted to go makes this funny but it’s still messed up,” said one fan.
The irony in the situation is that if any kid is the example of a privileged punk, it’s Jax Ulbrich, not the person he was trying to prank. A guy who, off the field, doesn’t set out to hurt anyone’s feelings or rub their failures in at a make-or-break time in their lives.
Ulbrich, who is attending a posh college on his daddy’s dime and sitting around in a frat house stealing his father’s personal information and risking it all for a good joke, is everything people who are justifying Sanders’ draft drop is saying about him.
He’s privileged.
He played “Daddy Ball”
He never worked for it.
He’s cocky and does whatever he wants.
“These kids think they’re actually funny though… only people from privilege who don’t know about struggle or life would do something this low. They aren’t even kids anymore, they’re adults. Pathetic stuff but on par for people born with a silver spoon,” another fan said on X.
Did Ulbrich get off too easy with an apology?
“@OleMiss If this is one of your students, he needs to be expelled and turned into police for impersonation. This vile behavior needs to stop,” said one woman.
“Shit ain’t funny. There should be some consequences. Now I want to know how he got that secure phone line,” another chimed in.
Once Shedeur got drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th overall in Round 5, the pain of his draft day prank probably disappeared as his family was thanking God and praise dancing.
Then when Coach Primes other son, Shilo Sanders, signed with Tampa Bay Bucs as a free agent, it was an all-out party and triumph for Deion Sanders who has two sons in the NFL. Mission complete.
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