He would logically assume it was a legit representative of one of the 32 teams, correct?
Hehe, that Sanders family is really something.
Sounds like the NFL might already be doing burner phones for the draft, and they’ve attached a partnership to it as they do. If so, I’m kind of surprised that this wasn’t more widely known. Though I suppose this could just be a Sanders/Boost thing and the NFL doesn’t do it widely. That would be a lot of phones, and you might miss someone when a team goes off the board.
If the NFL is using burner phones, they should have the ability to preload them with all the relevant contacts and potentially lock them down in such a way that all non-known incoming numbers are blocked. They could also prevent the installation of other apps. As mentioned up thread, the NFL could partner with a secure communication app (yay, another partnership!) but that might interfere with any existing accounts the players might have on those services on their personal phones.
At the end of the day, the problem with all security is people. All the NFL team officials would need to be super disciplined about how they contact players and agents. They likely exchange personal numbers with all these people during the pre-draft process and maybe even in the years prior if it’s well known kid. Similarly, a bunch of stupid college kids also need to treat their communications like they work in White House, not like they are a standard-issue Gen Z person. In a world where Instagram DMs are the most common massaging platform, you need to manage expectations.
facepalm I clearly had “Sanders” on the brain. Abdul Carter, of course.
Hopefully you’re not turning into Rain Man the way Mel did.
“..1 pick to Sanders, 1 pick to Sanders, Charlie…1 pick to Sanders”
“…secure communication app…”
Sponsorship deal!! 
The Official Secure Communication App of the National Football League.
I’m having trouble finding it now because everything comes up is about the prank, but apparently there was a draft pick that had the numbers for all the GMs and HCs saved on his phone. Only he then ignored the call because they had an assistant coach call him.
In all seriousness, that’s what sucks about these pranks. Not just the stress it causes for the target of the prank, but it makes it hard for people to trust the real calls.
I found this fascinating. The Seahawks put out an article talking about what it was like to be in the draft room, what they did and talked about prior to the pick. I love how they knew immediately who they were going to pick and chose to “milk it”. I sometimes wonder why it took so long for some of these picjsy to be announced.
Anyway, the amount of detail is staggering. I don’t know if all draft rooms are like this during the draft, but I bet there are a lot of similarities.
Years ago, I was told teams will wait to the end of their turn - especially in early rounds - to see what the trade market looks like. There’s always the chance you don’t have a player you LOVE AND NEED, but the team a few picks back does, AND someone between here and there wants him too. Move back a few picks, still get a guy you want, and pick up some extra swings.
The simple way to solve the problem is don’t call the player until after the pick is announced. I’m assuming the players who are in the building don’t get a phone call. The player doesn’t need to find out a minute before everyone else. Then all you have to worry about is someone breaking into the broadcast and using an AI Roger Goodell to announce the wrong name.
It really isn’t a problem needing a solution.
Very true.
That said, I’m curious what objections the teams would have if they did away with the pre-selection calls. I’m sure the social media teams love it now that every team has cameras in the draft room, even if these conversations are aggressively stupid and make everyone look silly. I can’t imagine there’s ever been an example of a team calling a player and the player saying, “no, I don’t want to be a Packer, pick someone else.”
I get the sense that this is just an excuse for the GM and scouts to get some screen time and to demonstrate their culture. As I have gotten more cynical, I find this kind of stuff insufferable, but it’s all part of the gimmick. The draft certainly doesn’t need to be TV either, so why nitpick?
$350,000 says otherwise.
Oh, I’m thinking that this $350k MIGHT have solved the problem going forward.
That won’t happen, agreed. Everyone who enters the draft is desperate to make it in, and won’t jeopardize it by saying “no”. I’m also sure it’s made clear that every player is told that they have to agree to join the team that drafts them or they can’t play in the NFL per league rules.
Of course, nothing stops a player from demanding an immediate trade as famously happened with Eli Manning, but that still comes after the initial “yes”. (Actually in Manning’s case, this was worked out in advance, with the trade between San Diego and New York already in place before the draft, so what happened on draft day was pure pageantry.)
Yup! If you read the article I posted, teams also use the draft to try to give credit to scouts for their hard work to show that they’re appreciated (because teams need good scouts to be successful). The live draft is a TV show and it’s as much entertainment as any awards show or sporting event. And the people who appear get to be stars on TV.
You mean like Elway and the Colts, Bo Jackson and the Bucs, or Eli Manning and the Chargers?
Arian Foster, who was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Texans, thinks the Seahawks passed on him because he didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic when they told him they intended on drafting him.
Not the same situation since all three were #1 picks. There were weeks to figure out what was going on not 10 minutes to see who the next pick is.
The situation being described is a player getting a surprise call from a team live as the draft is in progress and saying, at that moment, “No thank you.”
That didn’t happen with any of those players.
Certainly there have been pre-draft negotiations for players who were #1 picks. I even mentioned Eli before your post as an example.