Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son Jax Ulbrich is publicly apologizing to Shedeur Sanders after a prank call during the 2025 NFL Draft.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” Jax, 21, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, April 27. “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,” he concluded. “Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. @shedeursanders.”
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The incident occured on Friday, April 25, when Sanders, 23, waited to be selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft. (Sanders, who was a quarterback for the University of Colorado Boulder, had been projected as a first-round pick.)
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In the video shared via social media, Sanders received a call from someone impersonating New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. The caller said, “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.” Sanders appeared confused by the remark, asking attendees at his draft party, “What does that mean?”
The Falcons have since addressed the situation in a statement shared to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Earlier in the week, 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,” the statement read, which Schefter shared via X on Sunday. “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 statement noted that the Falcons “do not condone this behavior” and “send our sincerest apologies” to Sanders and his family, noting they have been in contact. The NFL team claimed to have also facilitated an apology from Jax to the Sanders family.
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“We have also been in contact with the NFL and will continue to cooperate fully with any inquiries we may receive from the NFL league office,” the statement concluded. “We are thoroughly reviewing all protocols, and updating if necessary, to help prevent an incident like this from happening again.”
Shedeur, who’s father is former NFL star Deion Sanders, was ultimately selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round. Brother Shilo Sanders, who was not picked up by a team in the draft, signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent on Saturday, April 26.
While on a conference call with Cleveland-area reporters on Saturday, Shedeur reacted to the prank.
“It didn’t really have an impact on me,” Shedeur said, per ESPN. “Because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity, or I don’t feed into that stuff. You’ve seen on Deion [Sanders] 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.”
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