Atlanta Falcons Issue Apology To Shedeur Sanders After Revealing Coach's Son Was Behind Humiliating Prank Call

Perhaps the NFL is looking out for Shedeur Sanders.

Days after the 23-year-old received a humiliating prank call on his private phone during the 2025 NFL Draft, sources close to the league told ESPN that they were looking into the matter.

Hours after that, the Atlanta Falcons issued a public apology, admitting that one of their coaches' sons was behind the call after coming across Sanders' number on an open iPad.

Shedeur Sanders opened up about the incident after the Cleveland Browns selected him with the 144th pick and said he was looking past the mishap despite it being a "childish" move.

On day two of the three-day draft, a video surfaced online of Sanders being pranked by callers who had been watching the former Colorado Buffaloes player wait anxiously for a call from an NFL team with good news.

"Good, I've been waiting on you," Sanders said on the phone after the caller asked how he was doing. However, the smiles and good vibes stopped there.

Eventually, the caller told Sanders, whose dad is the two-time Super Bowl champion Deion Sanders, that he'd "have to wait a little longer," causing the demeanors of everyone around him to shift.

"I don't know what that was," Sanders added before revealing he had a private number for NFL personnel to contact him. "Nobody's got this number, though. Nobody. This is a private number."

The next day, the video of the pranksters calling Sanders was posted online and caused quite a stir among netizens.

"White boys love bullying," a user wrote, while another called the caller "obsessed."

Other users immediately questioned how they were able to secure Sanders' private number if only NFL personnel had access to it.

"Inside job," someone posted. "That was a private number."

"It's not funny," another agreed. "Hold them accountable, including the person who leaked the private number from the NFL. The hate is real!"

The league clearly agreed, telling ESPN's Adam Schefter that they were "looking into" how Sanders' number was leaked and used for the call.

Hours after the NFL shared that they were investigating, the Atlanta Falcons spoke with Schefter and admitted that one of their coaches' sons was involved in the matter.

"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 date exposure or any facets of the prank and was made aware of the above only after the fact," it continued.

"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 team went on to say that they were continuing to cooperate with the NFL regarding the investigation.

Jeff Ulbrich's son shared a personal statement on his Instagram and apologized to Sanders for engaging in "inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful" behavior.

"I'm so sorry I took away from your moment," he wrote. "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."

He eventually thanked Sanders for accepting his phone call and hoped the hopeful Browns quarterback could "find it in your heart to forgive me."

Later, Sanders opened up about the call during a conference with Cleveland reporters and revealed the "childish" move hardly impacted him.

"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."