The Atlanta Falcons were probably hoping that their sole focus this week following the 2025 NFL Draft would be on signing undrafted free agents and welcoming their draft picks to their Flower Branch, Georgia team facility. But, that hasn’t been the case. The Falcons and their defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich have been dealing with the fallout of a prank call to Shedeur Sanders made by his son Jax on the second day of the draft.
Now, Ulbrich is breaking his silence.
“It’s something that I brought upon myself and my son brought upon himself, so it’s one of those things where we got to take this on the chin. And we absolutely are doing that and taking full responsibility, and I’m hopeful we’ll grow and be better because of it,” Ulbrich said during a press conference Wednesday.
The Falcons were fined $250,000 and Ulbrich himself was fined $100,000. Matthew Wadleigh of the Sporting News explains what that means for the latter.
“As such, Jeff Ulbrich just lost a good chunk of his salary,” Wadleigh writes. “According to Front Office Sports, Ulbrich is earning $1.6 million in 2025, which means the $100,000 fine is roughly 6% of his salary.”
Ulbrich isn’t thrilled
If Jax isn’t completely mortified by this entire situation and the position he put his father in, then shame on him. This was a huge mistake, only 21-years old or not. And Ulbrich was visibly upset during his news conference. He wasn’t aware that his son was the one that made the call, but he was “shocked” when he found out. Ulbrich reached out to Shedeur and his father Deion, the legendary Falcon’s cornerback. He said both Shedeur and his father were “amazingly gracious.”
“Obviously not happy and shocked,” Ulbrich told reporters. “So, I made the Falcons aware of the situation. And our next course of action was to try to get ahold of the Sanders family so we could apologize in person, which we were able to do.”
Ulbrich accepts his punishment
For what it’s worth, it seems like Ulbrich wants to accept his punishment, get back to focusing on football and move on.
“My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable, and for that, we are both deeply sorry,” Ulbrich said, according to Nate Davis of USA Today. “The NFL has taken action and I fully respect the punishment. We take full responsibility, both 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 that we are better than this. Again, I am deeply sorry for our actions.”
But, it’s not just Jeff Ulbrich himself. It sounds like Jax is going to pay the piper too. The Falcons on Wednesday said, “the Ulbrich family is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”
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