Falcons, Jeff Ulbrich fined for Shedeur Sanders prank call

The NFL has rendered their judgment on the issue of last Friday’s prank call to NFL Draft hopeful Shedeur Sanders. While the son of Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, Jax Ulbrich, is responsible for the phone call and admitted as much, the fact that he was able to access Sanders’ number at all from the iPad of his father means that, in the eyes of the NFL, he is responsible for the call. As are the Falcons: both Ulbrich and the Falcons were fined for the call, to the tune of $100,000 and $250,000, respectively, per NFL Network.

Jax Ulbrich and an unidentified friend called Sanders on Friday to tell him that he’d been selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders would not actually end up being picked until the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. The word from the Falcons, who released a statement about the call and who was responsible for making it, was that Jax Ulbrich had "unintentionally" come across Sanders’ phone number on his father’s iPad, and had saved it for later use. 

In an Instagram post published over the weekend and unearthed by NFL Network, Jax Ulbrich apologized for the prank call. "On Friday night, I made a tremendous mistake. Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful. I'm so sorry I took away from your moment, it was selfish and childish. I could never imagine getting ready to celebrate one of the greatest moments of your life and I made a terrible mistake and messed with that moment. Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." 

[Related: Prank calls to NFL Draft prospects unrelated to Shedeur Sanders incident]

The Falcons released a statement in response to the fines, saying, "We appreciate the NFL's swift and thorough review of last week's data exposure and the event that transpired due to it. We were proactive in addressing the situation internally and cooperated fully with the league throughout the process, and accept the discipline levied to Coach Jeff Ulbrich and the organization. We are confident in our security policies and practices and will continue to emphasize adherence to them with our staff whether on or off premises."

If you were wondering what's going on with Jax Ulbrich in all of this, considering his dad is now out $100,000 and has been embarrassed in his workplace and in national news thanks to the call, the Falcons went on to say that, "the Ulbrich family is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week's matter."

Shedeur Sanders was not the only player to receive a prank call in anticipation of being drafted, though, he was the most high-profile case. The NFL is still investigating calls to Tyler Warren, Kyle McCord, Mason Graham, and Chase Lundt. Lundt said that he received "several" of these calls before he was selected in the sixth round, while Graham’s number appeared on a TikTok, resulting in a deluge of phone calls.

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