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Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich's Public Apology to Shedeur Sanders After NFL Punishment

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Michael Gallagher | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 2:47 PM ET

Though he didn’t explicitly play a part in the prank phone call to Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the 2025 NFL draft, Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was still partially responsible for what happened.

Ulbrich’s iPad, which had Sanders’ and many other draft hopefuls’ contact info in it, was left open at one point, which is how his son Jax, who was home visiting prior to the draft, got Sanders’ number, which led to the prank call that went viral on Friday.

The NFL fined the Falcons $250,000 and Ulbrich himself $100,000 for “failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL draft.”

Though Jax already issued a public apology to Sanders for the incident, Ulbrich took the time to issue one as well in his first comments on Wednesday since being disciplined by the league.

“First of all, I would like to publicly apologize to Shedeur and the Sanders family for what occurred,” Ulbrich told reporters. “Second of all, I want to publicly apologize to Mr. Blank, Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris and the entire Falcons organization. My actions — my actions — of not protecting confidential data were inexcusable. My son's actions were absolutely inexcusable, and for that, we are both deeply sorry.

“The NFL has taken action and I fully respect the punishment. We take full responsibility, both my son and myself, and we will not be appealing the fine in any way. Going forward, I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate that we are better than this. Again, I am deeply sorry for our actions.”

Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich's opening statements in his press conference addressing the fines the league placed on him and the Falcons organization for the role they played in the Shedeur Sanders prank call over the weekend.

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— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) April 30, 2025

The mystery caller phoned Sanders sometime after the first round on a number that was only made available to NFL personnel days before the draft pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.

After hyping Sanders up to believe he was about to be drafted, the prankster told the 23-year-old QB he was going to have to wait a little bit longer while revealing the call to be a hoax.

Though Sanders downplayed the incident after he was drafted by Cleveland three rounds later, the NFL deemed the situation serious enough to warrant an investigation.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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