Prank caller attempted to fool Giants’ Abdul Carter into thinking he was headed to Jaguars

Ryan OLeary

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Prank caller attempted to fool Giants’ Abdul Carter into thinking he was headed to Jaguars image

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Day 1 of the NFL Draft has become one of the biggest TV and social media events on the sports calendar, quite literally taking on a life of its own.

The 2025 version is quickly becoming known for something the NFL will have to crack down on immediately: prank calls.

The league’s longstanding tradition of calling prospects moments before their names are announced — and more recently, recording some of those cherished moments for TV and social media — was marred a bit this year by multiple prank callers pretending to be NFL executives. The incident generating the majority of Monday morning headlines was a call made by Jax Ulbrich — the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich — to Shedeur Sanders during his brutal slide from potential first-round pick to Round 5.

MORE: Shedeur Sanders prank call turns out to be $350,000 blunder for Falcons

Other prank calls were reportedly made to Mason Graham, who was picked No. 5 overall to the Cleveland Browns, and Tyler Warren, who went No. 14 overall to the Indianapolis Colts.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, star Penn State EDGE rusher Abdul Carter was prank called into believing he was the Jacksonville Jaguars' target after they swung a blockbuster trade with Cleveland to acquire the second overall pick. 

That move, of course, was for two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter. Carter’s phone was likely going off plenty in those tense moments, as he wound up going one pick later to the New York Giants.

“It’s unfortunate that these private numbers are getting to the people making the prank calls,” Drew Rosenhaus, Carter’s agent, said Wednesday via Schefter’s report. “Abdul and I knew it was B.S. and didn’t even tell his family about the call.”

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The majority, if not all, of this year’s top prospects sent new private numbers to teams in an effort to mitigate potential prank calls, but the NFL will likely have to step in with added measures. It’s unclear how the numbers were leaked — Ulbrich’s excuse was an open IPad that his 21-year-old son got ahold of — but with all the pub and national discussion these pranks are getting, potential copycats will be out in full force when the 2026 NFL Draft rolls around.

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Ryan OLeary

Ryan O'Leary has spent his entire professional career in sports multimedia, working as journalist, editor, podcaster, and in live events as a content manager and show emcee. His career highlights include working as a podcast host and audio editor for USA TODAY Sports Media Group, where he led a series of NFL podcasts for the company’s top-performing NFL sites. A born and raised New Englander, Ryan’s career kicked-off in newspapers after graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in journalism. He developed an affinity for small-town youth, high school and college sports, while also realizing his childhood dream of covering the Patriots in multiple AFC Championship Games. Ryan enjoys kicking it with family and friends, beating his dad and brother in chess, and arguing with anyone crazy enough to insist that Tom Brady isn’t the GOAT.