While our NFL hopeful players were stressed beyond comprehension about the draft, a sinister plan was afoot in parallel. Shedeur Sanders quieted his haters a little after finally getting drafted to Cleveland. Whoever was following that story would’ve noticed that the QB received a prank call, smack dab in the midst of his draft party. While not much was made of it at that point, it turns out the plan was teetering over being a full-fledged pranking operation. Former Penn State TE Tyler Warren, too, is reported to be a target. 

Sanders was still undrafted when the call came. Captured in a viral video, we see Shilo running towards him with a phone that was meant strictly for draft purposes. Everyone thought this was the moment. Sanders answered to a person claiming to be Mickey Loomis, New Orleans GM. He said, “It’s been a long wait, man. 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.” A confused Sanders said that no one had access to that number apart from NFL officials. And like a punch to his gut, the Orleans picked Tyler Shough.

What was once thought of as a harmless prank might not have been so after all. Along with Sanders, Jordan Schultz revealed that even Tyler Warren was a victim of the same prankster. The former Penn State TE received the call when the Jets were picking at No. 7. He didn’t have to wait long to be drafted, going in the first round to the Indianapolis Colts. Just like Sanders, the prankster posed as NFL personnel. As, the Jets picked Armand Membou, which must’ve caused some confusion for Tyler Warren. 

There are speculations that the culprit is Jax Ulbrich, Atlanta Falcons HC Jeff Ulbrich’s son. Jax has since shut down his social media, and the perpetrator is yet to take responsibility. “I think, of course, it is childish,” Sanders told the press virtually after being drafted. The disturbing part of this is that the numbers were clearly leaked by staff to the culprit, which is a serious issue. The football community, on the other hand, is both angered and amused at this whole play of events.

Fans are in all kinds of moods about the prank on Tyler Warren

Some fans tried to make light of this very peculiar situation. “We got a serial pranker,” wrote one user on X. While nobody has taken responsibility, fans were quick to spot a pattern in previous drafts as well. Cooper DeJean also received calls like this last year, with the culprit posing to be someone from the Green Bay Packers.

Another fan thought the call was a blessing in disguise. “Better for him who tf wants to go to the Jets,” they wrote. Another fan was able to take a dig at Shedeur, too, within this drama. “I get pranking Shedeur, but why Tyler?” the reply read. Sanders was undoubtedly the most trending QB of the hour, given how close he came to being undrafted.

Another user thought that the prank didn’t really cause much damage, “‘Cruel’ lol it really isn’t that serious. Acting like they called his mother was in the hospital.” On the surface, it does seem like a harmless prank, but it might have caused a moment or two of confusion or distress for its targets.

The hate against Ulbrich was steady, too. “This is a bigger issue. Heads will roll, IMHO,” wrote on fan. It’s unclear how the guy was even brought into this whole drama, because no solid evidence links him to it. “I’m outraged!! Lock them up and throw away the key,” wrote another fan as they showed how angry and disappointed they were over the whole debacle. 

Nevertheless, the NFL has since then announced an investigation into this matter. It’s clear that things smell fishy when this is regarded as an idea of ‘having fun.’ However, it seems that Tyler Warren and Shedeur Sanders had the last laugh, finally switching their hopes for happiness upon being drafted. Probably not without being in a stupor for at least a few moments after what the prankster told them over the calls.