NFL Fines Falcons Over Shedeur Sanders Prank Leak Scandal

Sanders suffered a humiliating second after receiving a prank name whereas ready to get drafted through the 2025 NFL draft.

Later, the Atlanta Falcons apologized to Sanders and revealed that certainly one of their coaches’ sons was accountable for the pretend name.

On Wednesday, the NFL fined the Atlanta Falcons $250,000. The staff’s defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich, was additionally fined $100,000.

In an announcement to CNN, the Falcons thanked the NFL for totally reviewing the occasions of final week.

The staff mentioned, “We appreciate the NFL’s swift and thorough review of last’s week’s data exposure and the event that transpired due to it.”

The assertion continued, “We were proactive in addressing the situation internally and cooperated fully with the league throughout the process, and accept the discipline levied to Coach Jeff Ulbrich and the organization.”

The NFL staff added, “We are confident in our security policies and practices and will continue to emphasize adherence to them with our staff whether on or off premises.”

Atlanta Falcons concluded, “Additionally, the Ulbrich family is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”

Jeff Ulbrich and the Atlanta Falcons’ punishment is a results of the notorious prank name focusing on Shedeur Sanders.

NFL groups surprisingly missed Sanders after the primary spherical of the draft final Thursday, and he hoped to get picked in spherical two.

However, whereas streaming the second spherical drafts, Sanders acquired a name from somebody he thought was an NFL consultant.

In a now-viral video of the prank name, Sanders responded to the decision and mentioned, “Good, I’ve been waiting on you,” after the caller requested how he was doing.

Sanders was downcast after the caller instructed him he would “have to wait a little longer.” He was later heard saying, “I don’t know what that was.”

He added, “Nobody’s got this number, though. Nobody. This is a private number.”

After the video of Sanders’ prank name went viral on social media, the NFL introduced that it was investigating how his telephone quantity was leaked.

Not lengthy after the NFL’s feedback, the Atlanta Falcons launched an announcement, admitting {that a} coach’s son was accountable for the decision.

The staff mentioned, “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 assertion continued, “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 Falcons additionally mentioned, “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.”

They concluded, “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.”

Following the revelation of who was behind the notorious prank name, Jeff Ulbrich’s son, Jax, shared an announcement on Instagram apologizing to Sanders.

He wrote, “On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake. Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful.”

Jax continued, “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.”

The 21-year-old thanked Sanders for accepting an earlier name from him. He wrote, “Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”