The mystery of how quarterback Shedeur Sanders was prank called during the NFL Draft has been solved. On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons confirmed that the 21-year-old son of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was behind the prank after coming across the phone number for Sanders’ special draft phone.
The Falcons released a statement explaining the situation and offering “sincere apologies” to Sanders and his family. In the meantime, Ulbrich’s son Jax posted a public apology to Sanders on Instagram, both as a post and as a story.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake. 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,” Jax Ulbrich wrote in the apology. “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.”
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Ulbrich added that he had called Sanders earlier to apologize, and thanked him for accepting the call. “I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me,” he added.
(The original post misspelled Sanders’ name; Ulbrich later deleted the post and reposted a corrected version.)
The Falcons said in their statement that Jax Ulbrich “unintentionally came across” the number for Sanders’ draft phone on an open iPad while visiting his parents and wrote it down. Atlanta said that Jeff Ulbrich was “unaware” about both the leak and the prank until 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,” the team wrote in the statement.
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The Falcons also said that they are in contact with the NFL and will cooperate with any investigation into the incident. The team added that it is “thoroughly reviewing all protocols” to keep any similar incidents from happening in the future.
The NFL is now opening an investigation into the incident, as well as a smattering of other draft-day prank calls that have been reported.
During the second round of the draft on Friday, Sanders was called on his draft phone by someone claiming to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, shortly before the team’s No. 40 pick.
Video of both ends of the call have been made public; on the pranksters’ end, two people are visible as one of them speaks to Sanders on the phone. Rumors had circulated that Jax Ulbrich had been the non-caller in the video, though there was no evidence until the Falcons confirmed it on Sunday.
Sanders was eventually taken in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns.
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