The Atlanta Falcons released a statement Sunday stating that Jax Ulbrich, the son of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, "unintentionally came across the contact phone number" for Shedeur Sanders and was behind a prank call the Colorado quarterback received on Friday.
"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 Falcons' statement read. "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."
Jax Ulbrich posted a public apology to Sanders on Sunday and thanked him for accepting his call earlier in the day.
"On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake," Jax Ulbrich's social media post read. "Sheduer [sic], what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful," Jeff Ulbrich's statement read. "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."
Before the Cleveland Browns selected Sanders on Day 3, a video on social media showed the QB prospect answering a prank call on Day 2 that falsely claimed to be Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
"It's been a long wait, man," the caller 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."
In the video, a confused Sanders was hung up on and left asking: "What does that mean?"
The Browns selected Sanders in the fifth round on Saturday, ending the QB's dramatic draft slide.
"It didn't really have an impact on me," Sanders said when asked about the prank call during a Browns conference call on Saturday. "Because it was just like, I mean, OK, like I don't feed into negativity or I don't feed into that stuff. You've seen on Deion [Sanders] Jr.'s Well off [Media] YouTube video. 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."
Jeff Ulbrich, the former New York Jets interim head coach, is entering his first season in Atlanta.
The league released a statement on Sunday, stating, "We have been in contact with the Falcons and we are looking into the matter."
