Shedeur Sanders may have caught all the headlines for the unfortunate prank call he received as he was tumbling down the draft last month, but he was far from the only player affected by such nonsense. It turns out that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Will Howard, who had to wait all the way until the sixth round at No. 185 overall, received prank calls as well.
“I remember sitting there, sitting on my couch pretty much the first three days,” Howard said in a 1-on-1 interview with Missi Matthews via Steelers.com. “A couple times I just got a little impatient or wanted to get up and get a snack. So I ended up, right during the sixth round, I stood up and I went to the kitchen just ’cause I was tired of sitting in the same spot all day. And that was where I got the call. It was just a relief seeing that number come up, 412 number with Pittsburgh Steelers over top.
“I had gotten prank called a couple times, so it was nice to actually have a real one.”
According to CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin, the list of notable 2025 NFL Draft prospects who received prank calls includes:
– Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders
– Syracuse QB Kyle McCord
– Texas WR Isaiah Bond
– Penn State TE Tyler Warren
– Oregon OT Josh Conerly Jr.
– UConn OT Chase Lundt
– Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter
Will Howard can now be added to that list. The late-round quarterbacks got hit hard by this unfortunate trend. These players work tirelessly for most of their lives, and what is supposed to be the happiest moment of their life gets tainted by some bad actors.
In Sanders’ case, Atlanta Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich’s son Jax Ulbrich got ahold of privileged information by looking through his father’s things to make the prank call. It is unclear how all these other prank calls went down. Sanders told the media he was given a phone specifically for the draft and the number was only given to NFL personnel. I can’t imagine the league does that for every draft-eligible player, but maybe a list of notable prospects. Certainly, you would think Will Howard, a 2024 CFP national champion, would be one of those.
Howard didn’t let it damper his mood. He looked plenty excited once the (real) call eventually came. Below is a clip of that moment via NFL Films.
