Shedeur Sanders prank call controversy yields stunning development

The son of an Atlanta Falcons coach owned up to a prank call to Shedeur Sanders during the NFL Draft as the quarterback slid from a first-round projection to the fifth round.

Jax Ulbrich, the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, posted a statement on his Instagram account, apologizing to the former Colorado Buffaloes star.

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Nov 4, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) walks off the field after Colorado’s loss against the Oregon State Beavers at Folsom Field. (Chet Strange-USA TODAY Sports)

"On Friday night, I made a tremendous mistake," the post read. "Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful. I’m so sorry I took away from your moment, it was childish and selfish.

"I could never imagine getting ready to celebrate one of the greatest moments of your life and I made a terrible mistake and messed up with that moment. Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

The NFL confirmed to Fox News Digital earlier on Sunday that the league launched a probe into the call. 

The Falcons said Jax Ulbrich wrote the phone number down off of an iPad that was left out in the open at his parent’s house.

"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. 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 team said.

Oct 13, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) warms up prior to the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Folsom Field. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

"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.

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"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."

Sanders was subjected to at least two prank calls during the draft.

The Browns eventually selected Sanders with the No. 144 overall pick of the draft.

"It didn’t really have an impact on me because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don’t feed into negativity or I don’t feed into that stuff." Sanders told Cleveland media about the prank call, via ESPN. "You’ve seen on Deion [Sanders] Jr’s YouTube video. My reaction to it, I don’t – it is what it is. I think, of course, it’s childish. Of course, I feel like it was a childish act, but everybody does childish things here and there."

FILE - Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, left, talks with quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) during a timeout in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Central Florida, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.  (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

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Sanders’ new head coach, Kevin Stefanski, said that "people are morons" when asked about the prank call.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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