The Atlanta Falcons revealed that the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was behind a prank call made to Shedeur Sanders, the son of NFL legend Deion Sanders.
In a statement from the Falcons, the team explained that Jax Ulbrich, 21, had “unintentionally” come across Shedeur’s draft contact phone number on an “open iPad” at his parents’ home. The team added that Jax wrote Shedeur’s contact number down with the intention of using it for a prank call.
“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 parents’ home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call,” the statement from the Falcons 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 team continued to add that they “do not condone this behavior” and sent their “sincere apologies” to Shedeur and his family.
In a statement on Instagram, Jax expressed that he had made a “tremendous mistake,” and added that what he had done was “completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful.”
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” Jax said. “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.”
The statement from the Falcons and Jax comes after a video circulated on social media showing a guy calling Shedeur and claiming to be Mickey Loomis, the New Orleans Saints general manager.
In the video, the guy tells Shedeur that the team will pick Shedeur, before adding that he has to “wait a little bit longer.”
“We’re going to take you as our next pick right here, man,” the man says. “But, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that.”
After not being selected in the first round of the NFL draft and slipping through more rounds, the Cleveland Browns selected Shedeur during the fifth round. The Browns’ selection of Shedeur made him the second quarterback the team picked during the draft, after Dillon Gabriel was drafted in the third round.
President Donald Trump and former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) both offered criticisms after Shedeur fell out of the first round of the draft.