By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Atlanta Falcons, alongside defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and his son offered public apologies on Sunday to Shedeur Sanders regarding a prank call during the second round of the NFL Draft.

Jax Ulbrich, son of Jeff Ulbrich, also offered an apology via Instagram.

The Falcons have decided not to punish their defensive coordinator for his son’s actions, according to team sources.

While the Cleveland Browns eventually stopped Sanders’ highly publicized slide to the fifth round, a prank call to Sanders’ draft phone Friday night claimed that he would be taken with the 40th pick by the New Orleans Saints.

“This is Mickey Loomis here, (general manager) of the Saints. It’s been a long wait, man. We’re gonna take you with our next pick right here, man,” the caller said. The prank call was captured on video by Well Off Media, a YouTube channel run by Deion Sanders Jr., Shedeur’s older brother.

“Yes sir, let’s be legendary,” Sanders said.

“But you’re gonna have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that,” the caller said before hanging up. The Saints eventually picked Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough.

Over the weekend, a video that appeared to capture the exchange from the prank caller’s point of view began circulating on social media.

The call was made to a phone Sanders purchased specifically for the draft. He received the phone Thursday and only shared the number in an email thread that the NFL sent to teams.

Prank calls are not uncommon in the long history of the NFL draft. Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean received a prank call during the 2024 draft while in the green room just before his eventual selection, and several other players have their own draft day prank stories.

“Nobody has that number but coaches, strictly for that reason,” Sanders said. “Why get mad? They want you to have a certain type of reaction to it. They want you to feel bad. But I ain’t trippin’.”

Let me just get right to it — from the start of the draft Thursday night until Saturday afternoon (when Sanders was finally picked), I was fascinated by Mel Kiper Jr. and his off the rails behavior; between his accolade as the most prolific and prominent draft analyst of all time, and the reality that his assessment was rejected by the entire league, over and over and over caused Kiper Jr. to lull and backtrack

When Sanders was finally drafted, Kiper Jr. embodied his enthusiasm and rapid-fire cadence like he was suddenly given a shot of adrenaline — a clearly practiced monologue he had been waiting 42 hours and 18 minutes to make. It felt less like a victory for the athlete and more like a catharsis for the analyst.

Let’s take a look at the subsequent 20-minute discussion about Shedeur by ESPN — especially when Rece Davis and Louis Reddick thoughtfully discussed what Sanders needed to take from his draft experience.

Suddenly, Mr. Mel let 48 hours of frustration explode, culminating in this absolute banger of a quote:

“The NFL has been CLUELESS evaluating quarterbacks!”

Was the Shedeur Sanders story compelling TV or, especially in the end, a little lamentable? What do we think of the relationship between the media frenzy and the end result?