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Jeff Ulbrich Breaks Silence on His Son's Involvement in Shedeur Sanders Prank Call

Ulbrich's son Jax conducted the viral call to Sanders on draft night that had him believing he was being selected by the Saints.
Ulbrich's son, Jax, concocted the viral prank call to Shedeur Sanders on draft night.
Ulbrich's son, Jax, concocted the viral prank call to Shedeur Sanders on draft night. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has broken his silence after his son, Jax, conducted a prank call to Shedeur Sanders this weekend, tricking him into believing he was being drafted by the New Orleans Saints.

"Obviously not happy, and shocked," Ulbrich told the media on Wednesday of his reaction to finding out it was his son who was responsible for the viral call. "So I made the Falcons aware of the situation and our next course of action was to try to get ahold of the Sanders family so we could apologize in person, which we were able to do."

"The Sanders family, Shedeur and coach Sanders, were amazingly gracious," he continued. "More gracious than they needed to be in a moment like this."

Both Jax and the Falcons released statements this weekend apologizing for what transpired. On Wednesday, the NFL fined the team $250,000 and coach Ulbrich $100,000 for, "failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL draft."

As for Shedeur, he ultimately got his flowers with a real draft call when he was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th overall pick.


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Published | Modified
 Mike Kadlick
MICHAEL KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is a senior NFL news writer for Sports Illustrated. He’s also a New England Patriots reporter for CLNS Media, where he hosts the Patriots Daily podcast and covers the beat from Gillette Stadium. Before joining SI, Kadlick worked at WEEI sports radio in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. When Kadlick’s not covering football, he can be found running, spending time with his wife and dog, and enjoying all things pizza.