Jax Ulbrich apologizes to Shedeur Sanders for NFL Draft prank call
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders received a prank call telling him he’d be drafted to the New Orleans Saints. Now, the culprit has been revealed.
The biggest story of the NFL Draft this year was that Colorado quarterback and son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders, had slipped all the way to the fifth round of the draft. Once viewed as a top prospect, drama and concerns over his play saw him drop even more than anyone expected.
The prank caller apologizes to Shedeur
During the draft, Shedeur received a call on a phone whose number he’d only given to NFL teams. Yet somehow, a prank caller dialed the number and pretended to be New Orleans Saints manager Mickey Loomis.
“It’s been a long wait, man,” the caller said. “We’re going to take you with our next pick, man, but you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that.”
The moment was caught on video as Shedeur received the prank call in front of his friends and family. He took it in stride, brushing off the incident as no big deal, but the NFL immediately began investigating the incident.
It didn’t take long to reveal the culprit as 21-year-old Jax Ulbrich, son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. The Falcons released a statement explaining that Jax found the number by accident while visiting his parents, and that Jeff was unaware that his son had the number let alone made the prank call until after the incident.
Falcons’ statement on the involvement of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son, Jax, in the draft weekend prank call to Shedeur Sanders: pic.twitter.com/PgSxURroaY
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2025
“The Atlanta Falcons do not condone this behavior and send our sincere apologies to Shedeur Sanders and his family,” the statement read.
Jax has also issued an apology.
Jax Ulbrich, the son of #Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich, has released a statement apologizing for his prank call to Shedeur Sanders during the 2025 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/dalUjHjrxZ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 27, 2025
In his statement, Jax called the call a “tremendous mistake” and said that it was “selfish and childish”. Childish was exactly the word Sanders used to describe the call himself.
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," said Sanders.
Will Jeff Ulbrich be punished for Sanders prank call?
The Falcons will not punish DC Jeff Ulbrich for the incident, but said that they will review protocol to make sure something like this doesn’t happen in the future.
Sanders wasn’t the only player to receive a prank call during the draft. Former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren and Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord also received prank calls. It’s unclear whether Jax was involved in either of those or any others at this time.
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