Former University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was the victim of a prank call on April 25, in which he was told he would be drafted by the New Orleans Saints.
The call was made by Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who told Sanders he was Saints general manager Mickey Loomis when he made the call during the second night of the NFL Draft. Jax Ulbrich publicly took credit for the prank and apologized.
Many pundits had Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer and current Colorado coach Deion Sanders, being selected in the first round of the draft, but his slide out of the first round and beyond became one of the draft’s biggest storylines.
He was eventually selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, with the prank call generating headlines in the shadow of his slide in the draft.
So, what exactly happened?
What was the prank phone call that Shedeur Sanders received?
Video of the call showed Jax Ulbrich calling Sanders and identifying himself as Loomis.
“It’s been a long wait, man,” Ulbrich said. “We’re going to take you with our next pick right here, man, but you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that.” Ulbrich and other people around him laughed as he hung up the phone.
“What does that mean?” a perplexed Sanders said to someone with him, while another person quickly put the pieces together and said he got “trolled.”
Shedeur Sanders was the target of a prank during the 2025 NFL Draft. Todd Rosenberg / Getty Images
How did Shedeur Sanders react to the prank phone call?
Sanders spoke with the media after being selected by the Browns and said he let the incident roll off his back.
“It didn’t really have an impact on me,” he said during a Browns conference call on April 26, according to NFL.com.
“Because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff … My reaction to it, I don’t — it is what it is. I think of course the dude was childish. Of course, I feel like it was a childish act, but everybody does childish things here and there.”
Who was behind the prank phone call?
Jax Ulbrich, the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who served as New York Jets interim head coach last season, admitted he placed the call and apologized for the gag.
“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” Jax Ulbrich wrote on Instagram on April 27. “Sheduer, 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. @shedeursanders.”
How did the Atlanta Falcons respond?
The Falcons apologized for the incident.
“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 team said in a statement shared by NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo.
“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.”
The NFL said April 27 it has spoken with the Falcons organization and is “looking into the matter.”
The Falcons and Browns will not play during the upcoming 2025 season, while the Falcons and Saints, who both play in the NFC West, will meet twice.
