NFL Draft Prank Season Ends, Real Magic Shines

0:00On April 21st, hundreds of top college prospects are on pins and needles this weekend for the NFL draft, dreaming of that life-changing call from. Commissioner Roger Gidell, but after last year's wave of cruel prank calls messing with their heads, the league is clamping down hard. Now, each of the 32 teams can share prospect phone numbers with just one person in the front office to cut off the troublemakers. That mess kicked off big time with quarterback Shader Sanders from the Browns. He slid way down the board on day one, then got a fake call on day two from someone pretending to be the Saints General Manager. It crushed him in front of family and friends at home in Texas, and he ended up going later on day three. Fans and players were furious, calling a straight sabotage during the most stressful time. The pranks turned out to be Jack's Ulbrich, son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who grabbed the number off his dad's iPad. The Falcons got hit with a $250,000 fine, and Ulbrich himself paid $100,000.

1:02Others like Abdul Carter, Ashton John T and Tyler Warren got similar fake calls, too. Even after apologies from the Ulbrich's to Sanders' camp, the NFL wants no repeats. Prospects had sent out backup numbers to dodge this exact issue and keep lines clear from family calls, but it didn't stop the chaos. With these tight new rules in place, pranks season should stay quiet, letting the real draft magic shine through without the drama. That wraps NFL news today, brought to you with AI. I'm Cory with the story.