THE son of an NFL coach has admitted to prank calling Shedeur Sanders and apologized for his “shameful” actions.
Draft prospect Sanders received a call during last week’s events in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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The caller claimed to be the general manager of the New Orleans Saints.
They said they were ready to take Sanders with their next pick before telling him he’ll have to “wait a little longer.”
The NFL investigated the call made to Sanders – who was eventually taken in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns.
And it was found to have been made by Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
The college student obtained the number from an iPad on a visit to his dad’s house.
The phone with which Sanders was pranked was provided by the NFL for the draft.
Jax owned up to his actions with a statement on Instagram.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” he said.
“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 you life and I made a terrible mistake and messed with that moment.”
The Falcons later released a statement of their own.
They also confirmed coach Ulbrich would not face any punishment.
Their statement read, “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 iPad while visiting his parent’s home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call.
“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.”
Sanders’ slide was the biggest shock of NFL Draft week.
He was expected to be a first round selection Thursday night.
But the Colorado Buffaloes star was forced to wait until Saturday afternoon.
He was eventually taken with the 144th overall pick by the Browns in the fifth round.
