A misjudged prank phone call orchestrated by the son of an Atlanta Falcons coach significantly impacted Shedeur Sanders’ experience during the NFL Draft, contributing to his slide from a projected first-round pick to being selected in the fifth round.
Jax Ulbrich, whose father Jeff Ulbrich serves as the Falcons’ defensive coordinator, publicly apologized via Instagram for the incident. His statement expressed deep remorse:
“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 childish and selfish.”
Ulbrich further elaborated on his regret, stating that he never intended to disrupt such a pivotal moment in Sanders’ life.
The NFL has initiated an investigation into the call, confirming the probe earlier Sunday. According to the Falcons organization, Jax Ulbrich inadvertently obtained Sanders’ draft contact information from an iPad left exposed at his parents’ home and subsequently used it for the prank.
“Earlier in the week,” a team statement read, “Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, unintentionally came across the draft contact phone number for Shedeur Sanders off an open iPad while visiting his parent’s home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call. Jeff Ulbrich was unaware of the data exposure or any facets of the prank and was made aware of the above only after the fact.”
The Falcons emphasized their disapproval of the actions, extending sincere apologies to Sanders and his family, whom they’ve contacted directly. They also facilitated an apology from Jax Ulbrich himself.
- The team is cooperating fully with the NFL’s inquiry.
- They are reviewing and updating protocols to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Sanders wasn’t the only target; he received at least two prank calls throughout the draft process. Despite this, Sanders maintained a composed perspective when discussing the situation.
“It didn’t really have an impact on me because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff.”
He acknowledged the childish nature of the prank but remained unfazed. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski similarly downplayed the incident with a blunt assessment: “people are morons.”
Ultimately, Sanders was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as the 144th overall pick.
