Draft Day is supposed to be magic. For some, it’s champagne and celebration. For others, it’s quiet heartbreak behind forced smiles. But every now and then, something happens that reminds us how fragile those moments are—how easily a life-changing night can be knocked off course. One young quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, found that out the hard way. And now, a high-ranking NFL coach is publicly reckoning with what his own household might have cost another man’s future.
For Shedeur, what should have been a life-altering weekend became an NFL Draft circus that no rookie quarterback should have to go through. As the cameras were rolling and the Sanders family was decked up, the draft party was interrupted by a prank call passed off as a promise from the New Orleans Saints. At the other end of the line? An imitation of Mickey Loomis. The actual offender? Jax Ulbrich. The 21-year-old son of Jeff Ulbrich, the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, used his father’s open iPad to get private draft information. A social media frenzy ensued, followed by an official NFL investigation and, now, a very public apology.
Insider Jordan Schultz shared a video of Jeff Ulbrich, who was visibly sorry, standing in front of the league and media and confessing to the controversy that rocked Draft Day. He stated with conviction: “I want to publicly apologize to Shedeur and the Sanders family for what occurred. Second of all, I want to publicly apologize to Mr. Blank, Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris, and the entire Falcons organization. My actions of not protecting confidential data were inexcusable. My son’s (Jax Ulbrich) actions were absolutely inexcusable. And for that, we are both deeply sorry.”
The Falcons and Ulbrich were hit hard by the NFL. The team was fined $250,000 and Ulbrich $100,000 for not protecting player contact information. The phone number that Jax Ulbrich stole from his father’s unlocked iPad was linked to the hoax call he made with a friend and shared online.
Jeff went on: “We take full responsibility—my son and myself—and we will not be appealing the fine in any way. Going forward, I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate we are better than this.” Investigating further, reporters wanted to know when Ulbrich first became aware of what had happened. He replied, “Yeah, obviously not happy and shocked. So I made the Falcons aware of the situation. And then our next course of action was to try to get a hold of the Sanders family, so we could apologise in person, which we were able to do.”
When many would have pointed fingers, Ulbrich made the decision to take responsibility. Even Jax wrote an emotional Instagram apology to Shedeur, “I’m so sorry I took away from your moment, it was selfish and childish… I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Shedeur Sanders and his family react to the call
The call was more than just a practical joke for Shedeur Sanders. It was a punch in the gut at the most emotionally vulnerable time of his life. After the phony Mickey Loomis indicated the Saints would take him, cameras captured his bewildered expression as he hung up with a mean “you’ll have to wait a little longer.”
After he hung up, the young QB looked at his brother, Deion Sanders Jr, and asked, “What does that mean?” The confusion and shock were visible on his face. But still amidst all this, he is keeping his calm. “It didn’t really have an impact on me,” he told reporters later. “Of course, I feel like it was a childish act, but everybody does childish things here and there.” No rants on social media. No victim story. Just fire and patience. He later remarked, “Why get mad? Because they want you to have a certain type of reaction. But I ain’t tripping.”
The Hall of Famer and former Falcons player Deion Sanders, his father, was clearly unhappy. Coach Prime could only say, “Wow,” when the Saints selected someone else a few seconds later. Deion went on to say, “I know what’s going on. This is to the point now where it’s like, ‘Hey, man, y’all gotta stop.’”
On the third day of the draft, Shedeur was finally called up by the Cleveland Browns. Pick 144. The fifth round. At Colorado, he won Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, led the FBS in completion percentage, and had his jersey retired. Even though Shedeur left without a fuss, many people think that this will remain in his memory for a lot longer than it did in the news cycle.
Since then, the Falcons have promised to strengthen internal data security. And announced that the Ulbrich family will take part in volunteer projects. But the damage was already done—on national television, no less.
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