A prank call to Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the 2025 NFL Draft cost the Atlanta Falcons $250,000 and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was fined $100,000 by the league for his 21-year-old son’s “tremendous mistake.”
The NFL fined the Falcons for allowing Sanders’ private information — his cell phone number — to be leaked, and Ulbrich for his failed oversight of a tablet his son used to swipe the information and make the prank call on Friday, when the second and third round were completed.
Jax Ulbrich apologized in a statement for making the call to Sanders. He dialed Sanders while the son of former Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders waited anxiously for his name to be called, in the midst of an unexpected fall out of the top four rounds.
Jax Ulbrich pretended to be Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and initially told Sanders he would be the Saints’ next pick only to tell Sanders was going to have to keep waiting.
“It’s been a long wait, man,” the voice of Jax Ulbrich was captured saying to Sanders in a video of the call. “We’re going to take you with our next pick, man, but you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that.”
When the pick never came, Sanders remained undrafted into the fifth round and was selected by the Cleveland Browns with pick No. 144.
He said in a media teleconference the prank call had no impact on him.
“It was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff,” Sanders said. “You’ve seen on Deion Jr.’s YouTube video. My reaction to it, I don’t — it is what it is. I think of course it is childish. Of course, I feel like it was a childish act, but everybody does childish things here and there.”
Jax Ulbrich said he used his father’s unlocked iPad to retrieve Sanders’ information. In a statement, Jax Ulbrich said his actions were “completely inexcusable” and thanked Sanders for taking a second call from him to apologize.
The NFL said it opened an immediate investigation and handed down the punishment on Wednesday, a sum nearly equal to the total of the signing bonus received by Austin Booker (Bears), the 144th pick in the 2024 draft. Booker’s four-year contract included a $349,140 signing bonus.
“We appreciate the NFL’s swift and thorough review of last week’s data exposure and the event that transpired due to it,” the Falcons said Wednesday in a formal statement after the league handed down the fine. “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. Additionally, the Ulbrich family is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”
Jeff Ulbrich was interim head coach of the New York Jets at the end of last season and played linebacker in the NFL. He also apologized Wednesday afternoon, adding that he would not appeal the fine.
“I would like to publicly apologize to Shedeur and the Sanders family for what occurred,” Ulbrich said, also apologizing to the organization. “My actions, my actions, for not protecting confidential data were inexcusable. My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable. And for that, we are both deeply sorry. … We take full responsibility, my son and myself.”
Ulbrich added that the Sanders’ family was “amazingly gracious.” He said he notified the Falcons of what happened and then reached out to personally apologize to Shedeur Sanders and his family.
“The Sanders family, Shedeur and Coach Sanders were amazingly gracious. More gracious than they needed to be in a moment like this,” he said.
He was hired in January by Falcons head coach Raheem Morris to become defensive coordinator, replacing Jimmy Lake.
Before the Colts used the No. 14 overall pick to draft Penn State’s Tyler Warren, he said he was also victim of a prank call. According to reports, the league was informed of Browns first-round pick Mason Graham, Steelers quarterback Kyle McCord and other prospects receiving similar calls while waiting to be drafted.
–Field Level Media
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