Sports Media Embarrasses Itself With Outrage Over Shedeur Sanders' Prank Call

Last week, the 21-year-old son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich prank-called Shedeur Sanders, posing as the general manager of the New Orleans Saints. After duping Sanders into thinking the team was about to draft him, Jax Ulbrich ended the call by telling the prospect, "Wait longer."

At best, the prank was funny. At worst, it was a loser move. But even in the worst case, the sports media have made the incident much larger than it needed to be. 

Commentators like Stephen A. Smith act like Ulbrich orchestrated some grand scandal, undermining the integrity of the NFL Draft process. So much so, the usual suspects are now bothered by the NFL's response to the incident, which included fining the Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich $100,000.

"Imagine costing your father $100K because you did some goofy shit. He’s lucky this didn’t cost him his job," former ESPN host Jemele Hill said.

"No repercussions for Jax Ulbrich, who took the number and made the prank phone call, listed here," NFL reporter James Palmer observed. 

Huh?

Jax Ulbrich is not an employee of the NFL. What is the league supposed to do? Condemn him in a second strongly worded press release? Kill him?

Heck, Hill suggests the team should fire the father for the actions of his adult son. What?

Just stop.

Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders is trying his hand at making music, and his first effort didn't exactly go over well.  (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

The outrage over the incident is as overblown as claims that the NFL colluded against Sanders during the draft to teach outspoken black quarterbacks a lesson, a narrative at which even Bomani Jones scoffed.

Moreover, Sanders is not the first player to receive a prank call during the draft. According to ABC News, draftees Mason Graham and Tyler Warren also received prank calls last Thursday. Chase Lundt did on Saturday. And Cooper DeJean received one during the first round last year.

The prank is only a national news story because it happened to Sanders, who is one of the most protected players by the media. Which, to be frank, is one of the reasons NFL teams probably passed on him.

The media turns every perceived slight against Sanders into a full-blown scandal. Already, television pundits are expressing disgust over reports that Sanders might start the season as the third-string quarterback in Cleveland.

Teams don't want to deal with that, with unnecessary pressure from the media – especially for a player who is hardly viewed as the next Andrew Luck or John Elway. Put simply, the media hurt Shedeur Sanders' draft stock by coddling him.

Their overreaction to him receiving a prank call only reaffirms that.

Shedeur Sanders is Deion's son. He made millions of dollars as a college athlete. He was drafted by an NFL team. He should be able to handle some doofus pranking him over the phone.