The call came on Friday as Sanders was waiting to be drafted after he fell into the later rounds.
ATLANTA — Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, prank-called NFL Draft prospect Shedeur Sanders after obtaining his private draft contact number earlier this week, according to a statement released by the team Sunday.
The Falcons said Jax found the number on an open iPad while visiting his parents’ home and later used it to make the prank call. Jeff Ulbrich was unaware of the situation and only learned about it after it happened, according to the team.
In a statement, the Falcons 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 said they have also contacted the NFL and are cooperating with any inquiries from the league office.
Jax Ulbrich posted a public apology on Instagram, writing, “On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake. 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.”
The Falcons said they are reviewing all team protocols to help prevent similar incidents in the future.
Neither Shedeur nor Deion Sanders has made a public statement about the prank.
RELATED: Did Shedeur Sanders get prank called during the NFL Draft? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look.
Sanders, the Colorado quarterback and son of NFL and Falcons legend Deion Sanders, was ranked one of the top talents heading into the draft and was expected by many draft observers be selected either very high or at least in the first couple rounds.
Instead teams continued passing on him, ultimately until he fell to the fifth round where the Cleveland Browns selected him at pick No. 144. It was during this draft fall that he was prank called, with the caller pretending to be with the New Orleans Saints and telling him he’d been drafted by New Orleans.
11Alive’s sister station in Dallas, WFAA, reported on the prank call after it began circulating online.
The video of the call that circulated showed someone telling Sanders on the other end the Saints were taking him with their next pick before telling him he actually would “have to wait.”
Deion Sanders Jr., Shedeur’s brother, posted a video of the call from their end. Shedeur Sanders said “what does that mean?” when the call ended and expressed his confusion with his family about the call.
“Nobody got this number though,” Shedeur Sanders said, still confused, before another person with him concluded he’d been trolled. The video showed Shedeur and his father continuing to watch the draft until the Saints picked someone else (a different quarterback, Tyler Shough, as it happened) at No. 40.
The original video of the call, from the end of the prank callers, was ultimately taken down several hours after it was posted.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday, two days after the prank call occurred, that the NFL was looking into how Shedeur Sanders’ number was leaked. Schefter’s post on X also included the original video of the call.