Atlanta Coach's Emotional Apology After NFL Punishment For Shedeur Sanders Prank Call

Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich gave an emotional apology to former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders and the Sander family after his son Jax prank-called Sanders during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The NFL has issued considerable fines to the Atlanta Falcons and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich for the call, that went viral.

Jan 5, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich during pregame warmups for their game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

"First of all, I'd like to publicly apologize to Shedeur and the Sanders family for what occurred," Ulbrich said on Wednesday. "Second of all, I want to publicly apologize to Mr. Blank, Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris and the entire Falcons organization. My actions of not protecting confidential data were inexcusable."

"My son's actions were absolutely inexcusable. And for that, we are both deeply sorry. 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. Going forward, I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate we are better than this. Again, I'm deeply sorry for our actions," Ulbrich continued.

Jeff's son, Jax Ulbrich, found Sanders' private draft phone number on his father's iPad and facilitated another individual to call Sanders while posing as New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. They told Sanders he was being drafted in the second round by the team, before delivering the prank that actually, the quarterback would "have to wait."

Jan 30, 2025; Arlington, TX, USA; West quarterback Shedeur Sanders of Colorado (2) looks on from the sidelines during the first half against the East at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Shedeur was understandably confused and ultimately the Saints ultimately selected a different quarterback with the 40th pick. Shedeur fell to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round.

The NFL fined the Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 for "failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft."

Ulbrich said he and his son Jax had met with the Sanders family in person since the prank call, and that they were "amazingly gracious, more gracious than they needed to be in a moment like this."

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Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes former player Shedeur Sanders before the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Amid an unprecedented draft fall, Shedeur was able to shake it off. Once predicted as the best quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur showed poise and humor as NFL teams passed on drafting him.

"It didn't really have an impact on me," Shedeur said in a conference call with Cleveland-area reporters. "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."

Jax also publicly apologized to Shedeur on Instagram.

“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” Jax wrote. “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.”