Shedeur Sanders prank call: NFL levies massive fines to Atlanta Falcons, Jeff Ulbrich

The NFL has fined the Atlanta Falcons $250,000 and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 after his 21-year-old son, Jax, was involved in the notorious prank phone call to Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft last Friday, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.

The NFL determined both the Falcons and elder Ulbrich failed to prevent “the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club” ahead of the NFL Draft, according to NFL.com insiders. The Falcons immediately issued a statement accepting the penalites.

“We appreciate the NFL’s swift and thorough review of last week’s data exposure and the event that transpired due to it,” the Falcons’ statement read, per Pelissero. “We were proactive in addressing the situation internally and cooperated fully with the league throughout the process, and accept the discipline levied to Coach Ulbrich and the organization. We are confident in our security policies and practices and will continue to emphasize adherence to them with our staff whether on or off premises. Additionally, the Ulbrich family is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”

Sanders was among a handful of NFL Draft prospects including Penn State tight end Tyler Warren and Texas receiver Isaiah Bond that received prank calls during last weekend’s draft. Sanders, a one-time projected Top 10 pick whose draft free fall ended when the Cleveland Browns selected him with the 144th pick in Round 5 on Saturday, received a call from a still unidentified college-aged man impersonating New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. Jax Ulbrich was identified as the second individual in the viral video of the prank.

According to a prior Falcons statement, 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 conduct a prank call,” the Falcons statement began. “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.”

Jax Ulbrich, son of Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich, issues apology to Shedeur Sanders for viral prank call

Jax Ulbrich is a sophomore running back at Berry College in Atlanta, according to the team’s online website. Reports surfaced late Saturday identifying the younger Ulbrich as the other person — not the one making the prank call — in a subsequent viral video that was releashed Saturday showing the other side of the call.

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

Jax Ulbrich’s public apology comes after an NFL official told Adam Schefter of ESPN that the league would be looking into how Sanders’ private number was leaked and then used for the prank call. Sanders said that Boost Mobile sent him a specific phone for the draft and the number was only provided to NFL teams.

Shedeur Sanders prank call: Adam Schefter reveals new details that led to fiasco

Amid the fallout of the prank call he received during the 2025 NFL Draft, Schefter shared new details about how many people had Shedeur Sanders’ phone number.

Schefter received a text from someone in the league who said Sanders’ number ended up more places. The reason, the person said, is because Sanders didn’t have an agent – which is usually the point of contact.

“I have not heard anybody talk about this,” Schefter said of the text on his podcast. “But I got a text on Sunday night that said, ‘The Shedeur prank thing is awful, but shows their naiveté by not hiring an agent. The fact that they had the league send his number to the entire football distribution list was such a mistake, one that wouldn’t have happened with an agent who would have handled that communication. I’ve never seen the league share a draft prospect’s number with the entire distribution list. As soon as I saw the email on Thursday of draft day, I was like, oh no. And the league probably shouldn’t have disseminated it knowing it was ripe for abuse.’

“So, we have a situation here where usually, an agent represents a player and when the league is disseminating numbers, they list the agent as a point of contact with the agent’s number. In this particular case, the league listed Shedeur Sanders’ name and his number because he was self-represented. That number got out there, it led to the prank call and here we are with the league saying it’s going to look into things.”

— On3’s Nick Geddes and Nick Schultz contributed to this report.