Falcons' Jeff Ulbrich Says Shedeur Sanders Prank Call by Son Jax Was 'Inexcusable'

Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich publicly apologized on Wednesday for the prank call made by his son, Jax Ulbrich, to Shedeur Sanders while the Cleveland Browns quarterback was waiting to hear his name called in the 2025 NFL draft.

"First of all, I'd like to publicly apologize to Shedeur and the Sanders family for what occurred. Second of all, I want to publicly apologize to Mr. Blank, Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris and the entire Falcons organization," Ulbrich said Wednesday. "My actions have not protected confidential data, were inexcusable. My son's actions were absolutely inexcusable, and for that we are both deeply sorry."

The NFL fined Ulbrich $100,000 and levied a $250,000 penalty against the Falcons following the incident.

"The NFL has taken action, and I fully respect the punishment. We take full responsibility, my son and myself, and we will not be appealing the fine in any way," Ulbrich said. "Going forward, I promise my son, and I, will work hard to demonstrate we are better than this. Again, I am deeply sorry for our actions."

Jeff Ulbrich is set to make an estimated $1.6 million with the Falcons this season, according to Front Office Sports.

Jax Ulbrich previously apologized for the incident in a statement on social media, in which he called the call "completely inexcusable, embarrassing and shameful" and said he had talked with Sanders on the phone earlier that day.

Video of the incident, during which the caller pretended to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis while telling Sanders he would need to wait to hear his name called in the draft, surfaced Friday as the situation went viral.

Sanders' side of the phone call was recorded during a livestream of Day 2 of the 2025 draft recorded by Deion Sanders Jr. and shared through Well Off Media.

The Falcons said in a statement that Jax 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 condcut 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 wrote. "The Atlanta Falcons do not condone this behavior and send our sincere apologies to Shedeur Sanders and his family, who we have been in contact with to apologize to, as well as facilitate an apology directly from Jax to the Sanders family."

Multiple other players were reportedly subject to prank calls while waiting for their own draft selections, including the New York Giants' No. 3 pick Abdul Carter as well as Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kyle McCord. The Washington Post's Mark Maske reported Wednesday that the NFL believes these incidents are unrelated to the prank call made to Sanders.