The Falcons won’t be taking action against defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in connection with his son’s prank call to Shedeur Sanders during the second night of the draft. The NFL still could.
“We have been in contact with the Falcons and we are reviewing the matter,” a league spokesman told PFT via email.
On Sunday afternoon, the Falcons issued a statement explaining that Ulbrich’s 21-year-old son, Jax, “unintentionally came across the draft contact phone number” for Sanders, which he found in an “open iPad” while visiting his parents’ home.
PFT has obtained a pair of communications that were sent to the NFL’s teams regarding the contact information for the draft prospects generally, and for Sanders specifically. The first, a formal memo dated April 23, 2025 to all “General Managers, Head Coaches, Player Personnel Directors, Club IT Directors” from the NFL Player Personnel department listed the contact numbers for the 16 players who attended the draft (cell phone number and green room number) and the 24 players who were participating virtually (including Sanders). The memo also contained the WhatsApp numbers for the five players who participated in the 2025 International Player Pathway Program, and who were attending the draft in Green Bay.
Later, an email was sent on April 23 to “All Waivers [NFL League],” and it contained only the “new cell phone number beginning today” for Shedeur Sanders. As one source explained it, the “All Waivers [NFL League]” is widely distributed to all coaches and personnel executives. Ulbrich would have been on the recipient list.
It’s reasonable to conclude that Jax Ulbrich saw the second email, which had only Sanders’s updated number — especially since that’s the number that was called during the draft. The question is how and when he saw it.
Did it happen the way the Falcons explained it?. The team’s statement shifts all blame from Jeff Ulbrich, insulating him from any potential knowledge that he was aware that his son saw the number and wrote it down specifically with the intention of pranking Sanders. It also eliminates the possibility that Jeff Ulbrich was in any way involved in the prank.
It will be interesting to see whether the league accepts Atlanta’s explanation or digs deepers. It also will be interesting to see whether the league imposes any discipline on the Falcons or Ulbrich. If nothing happens, it will cause some to conclude that the lack of action represents another benefit to the Falcons from having Rich McKay serve as chairman of the Competition Committee.
For now, we’ll see what happens. And we’ll see whether the league gets to the bottom of the question of: (1) who pranked Colts tight end Tyler Warren on the first night of the draft; and (2) who called a player roughly 30 minutes after he was drafted and told him he had been traded.
Regardless of how it plays out, it’s safe to say that this was one of the most uncommon drafts of the common draft era.
