The Atlanta Falcons and Jeff Ulbrich are going to have to pay for Jax Ulbrich’s actions.
After the son of the Atlanta Falcons defense coordinator prank called University of Colorado football player Shedeur Sanders to offer him a spot on the New Orleans Saints in the NFL draft, the league has issued a fine.
“The Atlanta Falcons have been fined $250,000,” theNFL said in a statement to NBC News, “and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 for failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.”
After the fine was issued, the NFL team released a statement saying they appreciated the league’s “swift and thorough” review of the event.
“We were proactive in addressing the situation internally and cooperated fully with the league throughout the process,” the statement obtained by E! News reads. “And accept the discipline levied to Coach Jeff Ulbrich and the organization.”
Additionally, the statement noted that the Ulbrich family is working with the NFL to “participate in community initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”
While Shedeur—the son of NFL alum Deion Sanders—was ultimately chosen in the NFL draft as a fifth-round pick for the Cleveland Browns April 26, he recieved the prank call from Jax one day prior. The 21-year-old later apologized on social media for the stunt.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” Jax wrote in an Instagram post April 27. “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.”
Jax—a running back for Berry College’s football team—noted that he “could never imagine” experiencing such a damper on what otherwise should have been “one of the greatest moments” of Shedeur’s life.
“I made a terrible mistake and messed with that moment,” the college student continued. “Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
In a YouTube video where Deion Sanders Jr. detailed his younger brother’s draft day process, Shedeur explained that the phone he received the call on was specifically sent out for the purpose of being drafted.
As Shedeur said in the April 26 video, “The number was only in an email thread that the NFL sent out to only teams.”
Later, the Falcons—where Shedeur’s dad Deion spent his first five NFL seasons in the early ‘90s—explained how Jax came across the confidential phone number.
“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 parents’ home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call,” the Falcons said in an April 27 statement. “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.”
Shedeur, for his part, noted that he wasn’t particularly phased by the prank, simply calling it “childish.”
“It is what it is,” the incoming Cleveland Browns player told CNN. “It didn’t really have an impact on me because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff.”
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal.)
