Jax Ulbrich, son of the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, Jeff Ulbrich, has apologized after prank-calling Shedeur Sanders when he was waiting to be selected in the NFL draft.
Sanders, the son of Colorado coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, received a call, allegedly from the general manager of the New Orleans Saints. Sanders was once one of the league’s most-touted draft prospects. However, it turned out that the call was a prank.
CNN reports that the scam was captured on camera and posted by Well Off Media, a production business run by Shedeur’s brother Deion Sanders Jr.
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The caller, now identified as Ulbrich, pretended to be Mickey Loomis, the general manager of the Saints, and he told Sanders, “We’re going to take you with our next pick right here.”
The 23-year-old, who plays for the University of Colorado, was joined by happy family members and friends for the much-anticipated moment.
“But you’re going to have to wait a little longer, man. Sorry about that,” Ulbrich added before hanging up.
Sanders only managed to say the words, “What does that mean?”
To make matters more complicated, the private number used exclusively for the draft was meant to be accessible only to NFL personnel. After almost twenty-four hours, however, Sanders was selected by the Cleveland Browns on Saturday with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round.
Meanwhile, before the identity of the prank caller was revealed, Sanders and Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski responded to the matter.
“It didn’t really have an impact on me because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff,” Sanders said. “You’ve seen on Deion Junior’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.”
Stefanski also remarked, “People are morons would be my reaction to that,” he said. “I mean, it’s sad that these young men have to deal with this. That happened a lot in the green room in Green Bay. Guys were getting calls, so it’s silly, but onward and upward.”
He did not identify the other players who might have been contacted.
After his name was revealed, the Falcons coach’s son, Ulbrich, came to Instagram to apologize.
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“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. Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
The Falcons also released a statement explaining how Ulbrich obtained Sanders’ number.
“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 team’s statement said.
“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 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.”
Sanders has not yet responded to the apology.
The NFL has said that it is investigating more prank calls to other draft prospects.
According to the Falcons, the team will assist the league in handling the matter, and they are examining their procedures to avoid similar instances in the future.
