Former University of Colorado football star Shedeur Sanders—son of NFL great multi-threat shut-down cornerback human highlight reel return specialist, and wide receiver “Neon Deion”—fell this weekend from what many felt was a sure-fire first-round pick in the NFL draft to a lowly fifth rounder in one of the great draft falls in league history.
Some felt that Shedeur displayed cockiness and entitlement, and didn’t come prepared to meetings. He seems to have rubbed some people the wrong way, and pundits have been frantically releasing opinions from “he deserved it!” to “this is an outrage!”
Watch: Mel Kiper and Others Should Be Fired After Their Deranged Behavior Over Shedeur Sanders
Regardless of what you think of the young man, I would assume most would find it a cruel trick indeed to call a person whose dreams are crumbling in real-time and fool him into thinking that he was about to be picked. The order in which you are drafted can mean millions upon millions of dollars, plus the shot to play for a team that really wants you, so this is no joking matter. Here’s what happened:
They need to leave dude alone man 😂
❌ Shedeur Sanders got pranked when a fake caller pretending to be part of a team told him he would “have to wait a little longer “ in the NFL draft. pic.twitter.com/3rAiU7qrK6
— {Matt} $XRPatriot (@matttttt187) April 26, 2025
On Friday night, during a live-stream event hosted by Sanders, he got a call to a private phone number he set up and gave to only NFL personnel. The person on the other line claimed to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and informed Sanders that the Saints would be taking him with their next pick.
After Sanders said that he’d been waiting for this, the person on the other end of the line instead reversed course and told Sanders that he would “have to wait a little longer,” leaving Sanders and the rest of the people at the event confused. That’s when Sanders began to think that something was up.
Now the cruel mind behind the prank has been revealed, and it’s the son of an NFL coach:
Shedeur Sanders’ slide in the 2025 NFL Draft included a prank call from someone pretending to be an NFL general manager. That led to the league launching an investigation into the matter, and the source has been found. On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons released a statement acknowledging Jax Ulbrich, the son of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, and his involvement in the prank calls.
Falcons issue a statement regarding the Shedeur Sanders prank phone call. Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, has apologized to Sanders. pic.twitter.com/cEt31mC7en
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 27, 2025
Naturally, now that the kid has been caught red-handed, he’s blubbering apologies like a toddler:
Statement on IG from Jax Ulbrich, son of the Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, about the draft weekend prank call to Shedeur Sanders: pic.twitter.com/qPITk6gItD
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2025
Sanders evidently handled the moment well, saying shortly after he was fooled, “Why get mad? They want you to have a certain type of reaction to it.”
Truth to be told, I used to make prank calls as a grade-schooler back when landlines were a thing. Me and my buddy would call random people and tell them they won a prize. Or: “This is General Electric. Is your refrigerator running?” Customer: “Yes.” Us: “Then you better go catch it!”
We thought we were so funny and were completely fooling these people, but in retrospect, I realize they were the ones pulling the pranks on us—they could tell by our high voices we were just kids being stupid and played us along.
But we certainly weren’t trying to hurt anyone or emotionally abuse them.
I take no position on whether Shedeur will be a great quarterback for the team that finally picked him, the perennially basement-dwelling Cleveland Browns, or whether Sanders the younger is a great guy. He’s shown both positive and questionable behavior, to be frank.
But that’s not the question. I think, regardless of whether you “like” Shedeur Sanders or not, this was a cruel trick to play on a young man in an emotionally heightened moment where the future that he prepared for all his life was on the line.
I hope Jax Ulbrich has learned a hard lesson—playing mind games with people’s hopes and dreams is no laughing matter.
RedState isn’t just your go-to source for politics and news – we cover culture and sports and nature too.
Become part of the RedState team. Join RedState’s VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership today.
