NFL Exec Suggests Shedeur Sanders Prank Call Could've Been Avoided If QB Hired Agent

An NFL executive believes that the prank call to Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, during which a person falsely claimed to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and said he was being drafted by his team, could have been avoided if he had hired an agent.

ESPN's Adam Schefter relayed a text he received from the exec during the latest edition of his podcast.

"The Shedeur prank is awful but shows their naivete by not hiring an agent. The fact that they had the league send his number to the entire football distribution list was such a mistake, one that wouldn't have happened with an agent that would have handled that communication. I've never seen the league share a draft prospect's number with the entire distribution list. As soon as I saw the email on Thursday of draft day, I was like, 'oh no.' And the league probably shouldn't have disseminated it the way that they did knowing it was ripe for abuse."

The call occurred on Friday of the NFL draft before the Saints were about to make the 40th overall pick (second-rounder). In reality, New Orleans chose Louisville signal-caller Tyler Shough.

It turns out that one of the prank callers involved was Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. The Falcons released a statement on the matter, explaining how Ulbrich found Sanders' number.

Before the Falcons released information on the matter, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk stated the league was conducting its own investigation, noting that

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported the NFL was investigating the situation since Sanders said he received the phone directly from the league via Boost Mobile so he could be contacted when selected.

"If Shedeur's version is accurate, it means someone connected to the league or one of its teams mishandled the information regarding the number," Florio wrote. "That opened the door for someone to get it and use it."

That ended up happening. There were obviously multiple avenues for this situation to never unfold, but regardless of whether or not Sanders had an agent, the two people most responsible for the situation are still the ones who decided to take the number and use it for a prank.