That’s an expensive prank call…
The NFL has handed down penalties to both the Atlanta Falcons and their defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich after the coach’s son, Jax Ulbrich, admitted to being behind a prank call to Shedeur Sanders during the NFL Draft.
The prank call came as the Colorado quarterback was falling down the draft board in what would end up being an unprecedented slide before eventually being drafted by the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.
Despite only leading the Buffaloes to a 13-11 in his two seasons at the helm, many saw his skillset and potential to be very alluring for NFL teams in need of a quarterback, and at one point Sanders was projected to be a top-5 draft pick with teams like the Tennessee Titans, the Las Vegas Raiders, the New York Giants, the New Orleans Saints and the Pittsburgh Steelers all in the market for a new quarterback.
But the son of Colorado Buffaloes coach and NFL legend Deion Sanders seemed to see his draft stock drop after the NFL Combine, when Sanders declined to throw and there were rumors that coaches saw him as “arrogant” and unprofessional during his interviews with teams.
One anonymous assistant coach even reportedly said that his interview with the team was the worst he’s ever seen:
“He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. … But the biggest thing is, he’s not that good.”
So it wasn’t a total surprise when he dropped out of the first round. But when he went undrafted on Saturday in rounds 2 and 3, all eyes were on Sanders and what went wrong.
In fact, Sanders had to wait until the final day of the draft to learn his landing spot, when he was eventually taken by the Cleveland Browns with a 5th round pick and #144 overall. It was an unprecedented slide for someone who was once projected to be a top 5 pick, and thought to be a second round pick at worst heading into draft day.
And on Friday night, some Ole Miss frat dudes decided to prank Sanders while he was waiting on the call.
The pranksters managed to get ahold of Sanders’ number and called him while the New Orleans Saints were on the clock, pretending to be GM Mickey Loomis and telling Sanders that they planned on drafting him before delivering the “punchline.”
“Gonna have to wait a little longer.”
Sanders was not only confused by the call, but confused at how somebody had gotten the number to his phone that wasn’t in his name and had been sent from Boost Mobile only days before the draft, with the number being sent only to NFL personnel.
The NFL was reportedly investigating the leak, and apparently it didn’t take long to find the culprit.
Jax Ulbrich, a sophomore running back for the Division III Berry College Vikings and the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, came forward to take responsibility and apologize for the prank, adding that he had spoken to Sanders to apologize directly to the QB:
“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. 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.”
And the Falcons also issued a statement, saying that their DC was unaware that his son had gotten the number off an open iPad, and that both the team and Jeff Ulbrich were unaware of the prank:
Now, Sanders wasn’t the only draft prospect who was the victim of a prank call. At least three others, including Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, and UConn offensive tackle Chase Lundt were all prank called while they were waiting to hear from an NFL team.
But like everything surrounding Shedeur Sanders, his call managed to get the most attention and in the process proved why teams may have been reluctant to draft him as many in the media demanded consequences for the Falcons and Ulbrich over the prank call.
And it seems like they got their wish.
The NFL announced today that they have fined the Atlanta Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 over the leak of Sanders’ phone number.
According to the NFL, the fine was for “failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.”
The Atlanta Falcons released a statement after the fine was announced accepting the penalty from the league:
“We appreciate the NFL’s swift and thorough review of last week’s data exposure and the event that transpired due to it. We were proactive in addressing the situation internally and cooperated fully with the league throughout the process, and accept the discipline levied to Coach Jeff 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.”
This whole thing just seems so overblown to me. I mean, prank calls to draft picks are nothing new, having happened for years now, but because it was Shedeur Sanders now they’re fining the team? Somebody clearly leaked the other guys’ numbers too, did the NFL investigate and fine the people responsible for those prank calls?
It just goes to show you why teams didn’t want the media circus that comes with drafting Shedeur Sanders if they weren’t confident that he would be a day 1 starter.
The post NFL Fines Atlanta Falcons & Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich Over His Son’s Prank Call To Shedeur Sanders first appeared on Whiskey Riff.