ESPN's Adam Schefter aired a theory this week that the Sanders family was partially blame for the prank phone call to Shedeur for not having an agent handle the player's draft communications.
The NFL has levied $350,000 in fines for something kids back in the day simply got grounded for: a prank phone call.
What happened to Shedeur Sanders during last week's NFL Draft was sad, but hardly criminal. As Deion's son slid down the board and out of the first round, Jax Ulbrich - son of Atlanta Falcons' defensive coordinator Jeff - found Shedeur's private phone number on an iPad and used it to make a prank phone call. Jax had buddies film the call, which he later posted to the Internet in an attempt to embarrass the Colorado quarterback.
We used to make prank calls as a kid. There was once even a TV show based on them, called Crank Yankers. These days Americans still get prank calls, but now they even spill over as spammers starting out with "Hi, how are you?" on our phones.
Was Shedeur embarrassed, perhaps humiliated? Yes. Did the call do tangible, irreparable damage? Please. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. By his barrage of celebratory videos on social media, it certainly appears Shedeur has valiantly recovered from the fake call.
But in the fallout, the NFL felt the need to do an investigation. Some irrational fans even called for Jeff Ulbrich to be fired. Now the league has decided on the discipline: $250,000 for the Falcons and $100,000 for Ulbrich.
In announcing the punishment, the NFL said in a statement the fines were levied because the Falcons "failed to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft."
Jax has apologized publicly, and privately to Shedeur. Jeff did the same Wednesday.
Prank phone calls aren't new, or - let's be honest - anything more than a nuisance. Rookies Abdul Carter, Tyler Warren and Kyle McCord received them this season; Cooper DeJean last year.
And, as NFL insider Adam Schefter points out, Shedeur could have had another line of defense against the prank if he had an agent. Instead, "represented" only by Deion, he had possession of the league-issued private phone.
“The Shedeur prank thing is awful, but shows their naivete by not hiring an agent," Schefter said this week on ESPN. "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, who would’ve handled that communication."
The NFL has deemed Jeff Ulbrich responsible for his son's actions. Yet ... the son of Kansas City Chiefs' head coach Andy Reid - Britt - plead guilty to a drunk driving accident in 2021 that severely injured a 5-year-old happened without any discipline whatsoever.
