The identity of Shedeur Sanders’ prank caller has been revealed as 21-year-old college student Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
Jax found Shedeur’s private draft phone number on his father’s iPad and proceeded to prank call the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback during the second day of the NFL Draft. As Sanders’ unexpected fall continued into the second round, Jax called the number and impersonated New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
“It’s been a long wait, man,” Jax told Sanders in the prank call. “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.”
Confused, Sanders watched the Saints select former Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the No. 40 overall pick.
The NFL was reportedly set to investigate the incident, but that may not be required any longer. Jax issued an apology via Instagram on Sunday and revealed that he spoke with Sanders again on the phone.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” Jax wrote on Instagram. “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.”
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The Atlanta Falcons, who selected Sanders’ father, Deion Sanders, in the first round of the 1989 NFL Draft, also released a statement on the prank call.
“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 an open iPad while visiting his parent’s home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call,” the statement read. “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.”
Shedeur was eventually taken in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. In a conference call with Cleveland-area reporters, Shedeur shared his thoughts on the incident.
“It didn’t really have an impact on me because it was just like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff,” Shedeur said, per ESPN. “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.”
