The 21-year-old son of the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator prank-called NFL hopeful Shedeur Sanders to say he had been drafted during his stunning fall from a top prospect to fifth-round selection.
Jax Ulbrich, whose dad Jeff works for the Falcons, called Sanders on Friday night and claimed to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, telling Sanders he had been drafted.
The younger Ulbrich saw Sanders’ contact info in his dad’s iPad and wrote it down, intending to deceive the Colorado University quarterback, the Falcons said in a statement Sunday. Jeff Ulbrich did not know about his son’s plan, the team said.
“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’ statement said.
Jax Ulbrich issued a statement and apologized publicly to Sanders, calling the act, “completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful.”
“I’m so sorry I took away from your moment, it was selfish and childish,” Ulbrich said.
The NFL had previously said they were looking into the incident, NBC Sports reported.
Sanders had been one of the most notable prospects heading into the NFL draft and some suggested he could as early as the third pick when the New York Giants were picking. Other teams in the first round, including the Saints, had been rumored to be potential landing spots, but ultimately Sanders slid to the third day with the 144th overall pick to the Cleveland Browns.
Sanders’ drop even drew the attention of President Donald Trump, who said on Friday that all the teams were “stupid” for bypassing Sanders in the first round.
