Shedeur Sanders went two days without hearing his name called in the draft. Something neither he nor the Sanders family expected. A young QB from Colorado and once a top prospect, Shedeur was eager to hear his name announced. So, on Friday, during Day 2 of the draft, when the now-Browns QB received a call from someone claiming to be Saints GM Mickey Loomis, for a moment, he thought it was finally happening. But his happiness bubble burst within minutes.

Within two days, it was revealed who was behind the prank call. It turned out to be Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich’s son, Jax Ulbrich, who had stolen a number from his father’s iPad, according to a Falcons statement. Once it came to light that Ulbrich’s son was responsible, the backlash against the Falcons’ DC was immediate. Many fans even began calling for the team to fire him. The controversy has since taken over social media, with countless people chiming in and offering their opinions. Recently, former NFL WR Antonio Brown added his voice to the conversation.

Commenting on an X post that read, “Some NFL fans are calling for the Falcons to FIRE Jeff Ulbrich after his son was involved [in] the Jeff Ulbrich prank…,” the former Buccaneers player wrote, “Soft a** society then…Kids make mistakes, no need his pops pay 4 that… Everybody done prank calls… kid already feels bad enough.” He is not wrong.

On Sunday, the Falcons released a statement condemning the incident. And clarifying that Ulbrich was unaware of his son’s actions. “The Atlanta Falcons do not condone this behavior and send our sincere apologies to Shedeur Sanders and his family, whom we have been in contact with to apologize to, as well as to facilitate an apology directly from Jax to the Sanders family,” read part of the team’s statement.

A video of Jax Ulbrich and others involved in the prank call went viral online, and this led to his identification. He later apologized to Shedeur publicly, admitting to the prank and posting an apology on his social media.

Jax Ulbrich comes clean & apologizes to Shedeur Sanders

On Friday, Jax and a group of others called Shedeur Sanders. When he answered, the voice on the other end said, “What’s going on? This is Mickey Loomis here, of the Saints.” The caller continued, “It’s been a long wait, man. We’re gonna take you with our next pick right here, man.” The Colorado alum responded with, “Yes, sir, let’s be legendary.” But the voice then took a surprising turn, saying, “But you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer. Sorry about that.” Confused, Sanders asked, “What does that mean?” before the call abruptly ended.

After a video of the call went viral, Jax Ulbrich admitted to the prank on Sunday and shared an apology post on his Instagram feed and story. The statement read, “On Friday night, I made a tremendous mistake. Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful.” The 21-year-old apologized to Sanders for ruining what should have been one of the biggest moments of his life.

Jax also reached out to Shedeur personally, offering a direct apology for his actions. Concluding his statement, he wrote, “Thank you for accepting my call earlier today. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” Reacting to the incident, Shedeur Sanders said, “It didn’t really have an impact on me… I feel like it was a childish act, but everybody does childish things here and there.” That was a mature thing to say.

Shedeur Sanders was picked by the Browns on the final day of the draft, selected 144th overall in the fifth round. As for the prank call controversy, it’s still heating up. But for Shedeur, the real story is just beginning. With the Browns, he’s ready to prove himself on the field, leaving the drama behind.