April 28, 2025
The son, Jax Ulbrich, publicly admitted to prank calling Sanders while he waited to be selected in the NFL draft.
The son of the Atlanta Falcons Defense Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has admitted to and apologized for a prank calling made to Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft.
Jax Ulbrich admitted to gaining access to Sanders’ number, a line exclusively made to contact NFL teams, by way of his father’s iPad. He then used the information to prank call Sanders as he awaited to be picked during the draft. Ulbrich, identified as a 21-year-old student-athlete at Berry College by the Times of India, shared his public apology to Instagram.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake. Sheduer (sic), what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful,” Ulbrich wrote. “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 then confirmed that he called Sanders again, this time in a non-pranking way, to apologize for his actions.
He added, “Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
In a clip of the prank call released by Well Off Media, owned by Sanders’ brother, Deion Jr., Ulbrich posed as the New Orleans Saints’ general manager. CNN reported the conversation that went viral.
Ulbrich, then anonymous, told Sanders, “We’re going to take you with our next pick right here.”
Sanders proceeded to celebrate with friends and family until Ulbrich revealed the false nature of the call.
“But you’re going to have to wait a little longer, man. Sorry about that,” Ulbrich said and hung up.
The news made headlines as it added to the media frenzy surrounding Sanders’ prolonged selection in the draft. Once originally considered to be a first-round pick, the quarterback went unselected until the later rounds. The Cleveland Browns eventually selected him in the fifth round as the 144th overall pick.
However, the 23-year-old revealed that the prank call didn’t “have an impact” on his feelings. Instead, he called the matter “childish” while choosing to remain positive during the multi-day draft.
His father, NFL Hall of Famer and current University of Colorado Football head coach Deion Sanders, has yet to make a statement. Sanders played under his father at Jackson State for two years before completing another two seasons at Colorado.
The outgoing father-and-son duo have sparked an intense debate in the sports community for how their unabashed personalities may have played a role in Sanders’ emerging NFL career. The issue, given their status as successful Black men, also forged some conspiracies on the NFL’s alleged methods of humbling Black players.
The Falcons, however, apologized to the Sanders over the prank call, while also stating that the elder Ulbrich did not know of the “data exposure.”
“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,” wrote the franchise in a statement. “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.”
The Falcons also stated that they will work with the NFL as they continue to investigate the situation. The league also told CNN that they will investigate other prank calls made to draftees.
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