Apr 4, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) passes the ball at the University of Colorado NFL Showcase at the CU Indoor Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ciaglo-Imagn Images

nfl

Stephen A. Smith Sounds Off on Shedeur Sanders’ Prank Caller With Some Harsh Words

Stephen A. Smith appalled over prank call on Shedeur Sanders

On day 2 of the 2025 NFL draft, Shedeur Sanders and the Sanders’ family were already perplexed as the widely expected first-round pick remained undrafted the previous day. Once projected to be a top 3 pick, Sanders’ slide in the draft, where he ended up going in the fifth round, was a shock for many.

As Shedeur’s name kept being ignored on day 2, the former Colorado Buffaloes signal caller received a call from what was reported to be the New Orleans Saints’ general manager, Mickey Loomis, claiming that they were going to draft him. Sanders was then told that it was a prank call, leading to further humiliation for the 23-year-old.

The NFL acted swiftly and came to know that this was the doing of Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. Jax apparently saw Sanders’ number on his father’s laptop and decided to have some fun with it, while his father was completely unaware of the entire situation.

While the Falcons were fined a hefty fee of $250,000, and Ulbrich was fined $100,000, this prank did not sit well with several analysts in the media, including, most notably, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who had some harsh words for the prankster.

The NFL has confirmed that the #Falcons have been fined $250,000 and DC Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 for failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 30, 2025

Also Read: Why Is Jets QB Jordan Travis Retiring From the NFL?

Stephen A. Smith Makes His Displeasure Known

Sports television personality Stephen A. Smith, who is one of the most famous people in the sports media industry, reprimanded Jax Ulbrich for his role in the aforementioned situation. Per Smith, who was speaking on the topic at hand on ESPN’s First Take, the 21-year-old had no regard for Shedeur Sanders or his father (Jeff Ulbrich) before carrying out such actions.

“This is an incredible embarrassment that 21 year-old kid Jax should have had his ass whipped.”

“I’m like this idiot actually went out there and did it. He had himself filmed doing it, I mean no regard for Shedeur, no regard for his father, no regard for any kind of decency or any kind of decorum. It’s really really sad. As far as I’m concerned, he should be, Jax, I’m talking about should be put on front street.”

.@stephenasmith on the NFL fining the Falcons $250,000 and DC Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 after his son prank called Shedeur Sanders during the draft. pic.twitter.com/VJBaXPihyu
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 30, 2025

What happened to Sanders was definitely one of the worst things that could happen to a draft hopeful. It has also been reported that a number of other athletes also got pranked during the draft, and this has happened many times in the past as well.

However, the call to Sanders was in particular a horrible one as Ulbrich reportedly made a mockery out of Sanders’ situation by first telling him that the Saints want to draft him, but it will not be today, and that he will have to wait longer.

NFL

Shedeur Sanders

Stephen A. Smith

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!