USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
A number of players fell victim to prank calls during the NFL Draft last year, including one that landed the Falcons and their defensive coordinator in hot water. The league is hoping that will not be the case this year, and it will be making a concerted effort to prevent any more from unfolding.
The NFL Draft is a momentous occasion for the football players who’ve earned the right to take their talents to the next level, and being selected during the event can be a life-changing moment for guys who’ve spent years grinding to realize that dream.
Those prospects usually learn their fate before their names are officially announced at the draft itself, as it’s customary for their new team to call them on the phone for a conversation where they usually get an official welcome from coaches and high-ranking members of the front office.
If a player received a call from an unknown number during the draft, it’s safe to assume it’s coming from the team that’s decided to scoop them up. However, multiple players were duped during the event in 2025, which has led to the NFL harnessing a new strategy to stop that from being the case this year.
The NFL is restricting access to phone numbers to prevent prank calls during the draft
There were plenty of questions about where Shedeur Sanders would end up going in the 2025 NFL Draft, and he ultimately had to wait until the fifth round before the Browns selected him with the 144th overall pick.
That came after he was led to believe the Saints had decided to draft him in the first round during a prank call from someone claiming to be GM Mickey Loomis. That “someone” turned out to be Jax Ulbrich, the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who was fined $100,000 on top of the $250,000 the franchise was forced to fork over for failing to keep Sanders’ number secure.
The younger Ulbrich said he got the number from an email he was able to access on his dad’s iPad, a message that contained digits for hundreds of players and was sent out to approximately 2,000 people around the league.
Sanders wasn’t the only person who fell victim to a prank call, as Abdul Carter, Isaiah Bond, Ashton Jeanty, Chase Lundt, and Kyle McCord were also targeted at various points.
According to Pro Football Talk, the NFL has switched things up before the 2026 NFL Draft gets underway in Pittsburgh on Thursday, with a spokesperson telling the outlet:
“The relevant contact information will be provided by the league to a single point of contact at the club in football operations. This individual will be responsible for safeguarding the numbers.”
Based on the precedent the league set last year, those individuals will have at least 100,000 reasons to make sure they keep those numbers close to the vest, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see if this has the intended effect.