The long draft slide of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has now been well documented. After University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward went No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft (which was expected for months), the Sanders talk began. Some thought he would go as high as No. 2 overall to the Cleveland Browns, but that talk was squashed immediately when the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to get Sanders’ Colorado teammate, WR/CB Travis Hunter.
Before Sanders was taken on Day 3 in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns, he received another call from a team on Day 2 telling him that he was about to be selected.
“It’s been a long wait, man,” the person on the phone 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.”
It was Jax Ulbrich
According to ESPN, it was Falcons’ defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s 21-year old son, Jax.
“The son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich admitted to being the one behind a prank call to Shedeur Sanders during Day 2 of the NFL draft, according to the Falcons and an apology posted to social media on Sunday,” ESPN writes.
“Jax Ulbrich, 21, discovered Sanders’ draft contact phone number off an open iPad while visiting his parents’ home and wrote down the number to conduct the call, according to the Falcons. Jax Ulbrich said the call was “a tremendous mistake” in an Instagram post.”
Shedeur was confused, Jax apologized
Sanders was at his draft party and extremely confused by the call. He reportedly told attendees at his party, “what does that mean?”
As obnoxious and callous as the prank was, Jax seems extremely remorseful and should be.
“Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful,” Jax Ulbrich said in an Instagram post. “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.”
It’s probably safe to say that his father Jeff was mortified and had to do some serious damage control. The Falcons felt the need to issue an apology.
“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,” the Falcons said in a statement. “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.”
For what it’s worth, Shedeur didn’t seem all that bothered by it, even if he was.
“It didn’t really have an impact on me,” Sanders said, “because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff. You’ve seen on Deion [Sanders] Jr.’s YouTube video. My reaction to it, I don’t — it is what it is. 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.”
That’s actually a pretty mature statement for a guy who whose maturity has been questioned throughout this entire draft process.
Falcons Coach’s Son Breaks Silence on Shedeur Sanders Prank Call