The NFL came down hard on the Atlanta Falcons and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich after his son prank called Shedeur Sanders during the 2025 NFL Draft. The league fined the Falcons $250,000 and also fined Ulbrich $100,000 for the incident, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The Falcons confirmed the NFL’s punishment in a statement, saying the Ulbrich family is working with the team to participate in community-service initiatives as part of the fallout from the prank call. The team said it is “confident in our security policies and practices and will continue to emphasize adherence to them with our staff whether on or off premises.”
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Ulbrich’s son, Jax, used his dad’s iPad to get Sanders’ phone number. Another person with Jax called Sanders, pretended to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and told Sanders he was about to be drafted by the franchise. Sanders quickly figured out it was a prank call, and remained on the board until the fifth round, when the Cleveland Browns finally ended Sanders’ slide. Shortly after hanging up the phone, Sanders expressed confusion about the situation, saying, “Nobody has that number but coaches, strictly for that reason.”
That was exactly what irked the NFL. In its statement announcing the fines, the league said the fines were levied after the Falcons failed “to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.”
Video of the prank call circulated on X briefly before the account that posted the video went private. The video showed two men, one of which called Sanders and pretended to be Loomis. The video prompted an NFL investigation. Shortly after the video made the rounds on X, the Falcons and Jax apologized for the incident.
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Sanders wasn’t the only prospect to receive a prank call on draft night. Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren was reportedly among those to receive a similar call during the 2025 NFL Draft. Quarterback Kyle McCord was also among the prospects to receive a couple prank calls before going to the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round. The NFL is looking into those prank calls, but believe they are not related to the one made to Sanders.
Prank calls are not a new thing at the draft. During the 2024 NFL Draft, Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean was pranked before being selected in the second round.
