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The NFL is tightening its prospects’ contact information list for this year’s NFL Draft after the prank call to Shedeur Sanders as he slid down the draft board last April.
As Sanders fell out of the first round, and even further after not being taken in the second or third rounds on Day 2 of the draft, he was prank called by Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who wrote down Sanders’ phone number from his father’s open iPad while visiting home.
Now, the NFL is limiting the access of the prospects’ contact information to one person within each franchise, according to The Athletic.
“The relevant contact information will be provided by the league to a single point of contact at the club in football operations,” a league spokesman told the outlet. “This individual will be responsible for safeguarding the numbers.”
The moment involving Sanders ended up going viral, as he was live-streaming a draft party with his family and friends when he got the call from someone impersonating New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis before the No. 40 overall pick the team owned.
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The Saints were among teams who were in the quarterback market heading into the draft, and they didn’t select one in the first round. Meanwhile, other quarterback-needy teams like the Tennessee Titans (Cam Ward, No. 1) and New York Giants (Jaxson Dart, No. 25) already settled the position on day one.
Instead of taking Sanders, the Saints settled on Louisville’s Tyler Shough in the second round. Sanders would have to wait until the fifth round to be taken by the Cleveland Browns, who also selected Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round the day prior.
Jeff Ulbrich later apologized for his son’s actions, where he also shouldered blame for the leaked phone number in the first place.
“My actions of not protecting confidential data were inexcusable,” Ulbrich said at a news conference at the Falcons’ facility. “My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable, and for that we are both deeply sorry.”
The NFL fined the Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich was docked $100,000.
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“I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate we are better than this,” Ulbrich added.
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