Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, has confessed to prank calling Shedeur Sanders during the NFL Draft.
Sanders, who was selected in the fifth round of the draft by the Cleveland Browns, was left waiting throughout Thursday and Friday without hearing his name getting called.
However, he did receive a phone call from someone on a phone with a number that Sanders only gave to higher-up NFL personnel. That call was a prank.
Jax released a statement on his Instagram account confessing to being the person behind the call.
‘On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,’ Jax posted. ‘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 you life and I made a terrible mistake and messed with that moment.’
The identity of the prank caller who cruelly mocked Shedeur Sanders has been revealed
Jax Ulbrich apologized on social media where he revealed he was involved in a prank call
Jax is the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich (seen above with the Jets)
Jax then went on to reveal that he and Sanders spoke on the phone before concluding, ‘I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.’
After Jax’s statement went live, the Atlanta Falcons released a statement of their own.
‘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 iPad while visiting his parent’s home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call,’ the team’s statement began.
‘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.
‘We have also been in contact with the NFL and will continue to cooperate fully with any inquiries we may receive from the NFL league office.
‘We are thoroughly reviewing all protocols, and updating if necessary, to help prevent an incident like this from happening again.’
The Falcons confirmed to DailyMail.com that they are not taking any action against Jeff Ulbrich.
Reports indicate that Jeff Ulbrich is not going to receive any punishment for this incident
Sanders isn’t the only victim of a prank call.
It was later revealed that Penn State tight end Tyler Warren was also pranked before his eventual selection by the Indianapolis Colts with the 14th overall pick, according to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz.
Warren’s call game around the time the New York Jets were on the clock with the seventh overall pick. They eventually took offensive tackle Armand Membou out of Missouri.
It isn’t clear if Warren’s prank call and Sanders’ prank call are connected in any way. However, Warren’s camp says the prank call originated from a phone number that had the same area code as the Sanders prank call.
According to The Sporting News, at least four other players were hit with prank calls throughout the draft process, including Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord. He was eventually taken in the sixth round with the 181st pick by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Offensive lineman Chase Lundt of UConn was picked 206th by the Buffalo Bills. But on a media call, he told Buffalo media that he received ‘four or five’ prank calls throughout the process.
In addition to Sanders, Warren, McCord, and Lundt, an anonymous undrafted free agent was prank called – getting that player’s hopes up.
Another anonymous player was prank called moments after they were drafted, when that player was told they were being traded.
Tyler Warren was also prank called before his first-round selection by the Indianapolis Colts
Sixth-rounders Kyle McCord of Syracuse and Chase Lundt of UConn were also prank called
Sanders was expected to be a top-3 pick in the draft months ago. On the day of the draft, that projection had changed – but he was still believed to be taken in the first round.
But the first round came and went without Sanders being selected in a shocking development.
Then, on Friday for the second and third rounds, Sanders was waiting for a call. One eventually came from the pranksters, who pretended to be someone from the New Orleans Saints.
On Saturday, a clip of the prank callers was posted on social media. It showed a young man – wearing an Ole Miss sweater – calling Sanders.
Jax Ulbrich, who was sitting nearby on the couch, was left open-mouthed and had to walk away after hearing Sanders answer.
‘This is Mickey Loomis here, the GM of the New Orleans Saints, how are you doing?’ the caller asked Sanders, who replied: ‘Good, I’ve been waiting on you’
The prankster continued: ‘It’s been a long wait, man, (but) we are going to take you as our next pick right here.’
After Sanders replied, ‘that would be legendary’, he is told ‘you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that!’
Video of the prank call to Sanders taking place was posted onto social media
Sanders received the phone call, which was broadcast on a live stream in real time on Friday
The caller then hung up, prompting hysterical laughter among his friends. ‘Oh my God, he bought it!’ one could be heard shouting.
Meanwhile, Sanders’ reaction to the prank call was broadcast to the world on a livestream of his draft party. Once the humiliating incident took place, the feed cut out.
Sanders looked puzzled, revealing, ‘Nobody had that number. The number was only in the email thread that the NFL sent out to only teams.’
Friday didn’t get better for Sanders as he wasn’t taken in either the second or third round, extending his wait to Saturday.
Eventually, he was selected in the fifth round with pick No. 144 by the Cleveland Browns.
Quarterback Cam Ward from Miami was picked by the Tennessee Titans first overall, an expected selection.
The New York Giants pulled a surprise by trading up to the 25th pick and taking Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss.
In the second and third rounds, quarterbacks Tyler Shough of Louisville, Jalen Milroe of Alabama, and Dillon Gabriel of Oregon were taken by the Saints, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Browns respectively.
Then, finally Sanders was taken in the fifth round as the sixth quarterback off the board.
The quarterback had been projected to be a top-five pick, but was the sixth quarterback taken
In the second round, the Saints picked Louisville’s Tyler Shough over an available Sanders
In the third round, Jalen Milroe (L) and Dillon Gabriel (R) were also selected over Sanders
Donald Trump has delivered his verdict on the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft
Sanders’ fall out of the second round came on the same day that President Donald Trump took some time away from his dutiesto post on social media about the quarterback’s dramatic tumblefrom the first round.
‘What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?’ Trump wrote in his latest Truth Social rant. ‘Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart!
‘Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness.
‘He should be “picked” IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!’