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Cam Newton sympathizes with the emotions Shedeur Sanders faced during the 2025 NFL Draft after the 23-year-old suffered a prank call whilst his future in professional football hanged in the balance.
The Colorado Buffaloes graduate was widely tipped to be a First Round pick in Wisconsin but found teams continuously turning their noses up at the chance to select the quarterback.
No time off: Shedeur Sanders hits the hills right after getting drafted
Despite producing 4134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns in the 2024/25 NCAA season, Sanders fell all the way down to the Fifth Round before eventually being picked by the Cleveland Browns.
Although he is a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner, organizations were simply not convinced and many cited his poor interviews as a reason for rejections, along with some key flaws in his football game.
And as if his draft slump couldn’t get any worse, he also found himself on the wrong end of a prank call when Jax Ulbrich, the son of the Atlanta Falcons‘ defensive coordinator, decided to make a mockery of Sanders.
Shedeur was waiting for a phone call from an executive to tell him they were going to pick him up; and thought he had it when he answered the phone to who he believed was Mickey Loomis, the general manager of the New Orleans Saints.
However, it was Ulbrich on the other end of the line as the 21-year-old told him the “Saints” were going to pick him next, in a prank call that Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, doesn’t look kindly upon.
“I felt so bad for Shedeur,” Newton told 4th&1. “You think about what the NFL draft is: this is probably the only moment in American history where minorities turn millionaires in a day.
“At least 100, 200, potentially even 300 individuals are going to become or change the dynamic of their family’s lineage off of one day.
“And somebody playing with you – what does an apology do? I was publicly embarrassed.”
How did Jax Ulbrich get Sanders number?
Jax Ulbrich has since taken responsibility for the prank call and has made sure he’s apologised to Sanders via Instagram, describing his actions as a “tremendous mistake” and “completely inexcusable”, calling for forgiveness.
He had accessed Sanders‘ number through his father’s NFL connection, heading to the defensive coordinator’s iPad before pulling off the prank.
Jeff Ulbrich, who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2000-2009, made sure he apologized before the world on his son’s behalf after the Falcons collected a $250,000 fine, whilst the 48-year-old himself earned a $100,000 fine.
But Newton, once again, remains unconvinced from the apologies by insisting that somethings shouldn’t be made fun of at all.
“But someone would say, ‘Bro, it was a joke; it was a prank,'” Newton added. “Yeah, but bro, you’ve got to understand, you have to cite the source and cite the individual.
“That’s not something to play with. And you’re trying to use him as a pinata to hit around?”
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