Abdul Carter Also Received Prank Call Before Being Taken in NFL Draft

The fallout from a messy edition of the annual event continues.

Abdul Carter takes a question during his introductory press conference. / Thomas Salus-Imagn Images

Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter is headed to the New York Giants—but at first, that wasn't the way he heard it.

According to agent Drew Rosenhaus—who relayed the anecdote to ESPN's Adam Schefter—Carter received a prank phone call Thursday stating that the Jacksonville Jaguars would take him with the second pick of the NFL draft. Carter wound up being picked third; the Jaguars selected Colorado wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter after trading up.

"It’s unfortunate that these private numbers are getting to the people making the prank calls," Rosenhaus told Schefter. "Abdul and I knew it was BS and didn’t even tell his family about the call."

The pranks keep coming: it turns out that Abdul Carter also got a prank call during the second pick in which the caller said he was from the Jaguars and they were going to select him with the No. 2 overall pick. “It’s unfortunate that these private numbers are getting to the… pic.twitter.com/ypTsnrSpcq

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2025

The Carter report comes amid public fallout surrounding a prank call made to Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders. An NFL investigation traced the call to Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich; the Falcons and Jeff received substantial fines for failing to protect draft-related contact information Wednesday.

Carter and Sanders reportedly weren't the only ones to receive prank calls, either. It appears likely next year's NFL draft communications system will look different.

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