The NFL has fined the Atlanta Falcons $390,000 and team defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich over $150,000 for the leak of Shedeur Sanders’ phone number.
In the call, Jax Ulbrich identified himself as New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and told Sanders he had been drafted by the Saints before ending the call.
In the Instagram post, Ulbrich said the call was a “tremendous mistake”, and suggested he had also spoken to Sanders directly to apologise.
READ MORE: Astonishing $1.5m call that could send NRL market into frenzy
READ MORE: Sinner almost quit tennis during Australian Open
READ MORE: Reason behind subtle detail on Maroons jersey
“We appreciate the NFL’s swift and thorough review of last week’s data exposure and the event that transpired due to it,” the Falcons said in a statement. “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 organisation.
“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. Additionally, the Ulbrich family is working with the organisation to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”
Originally one of the NFL’s most-touted draft prospects, Sanders received a call – allegedly from the general manager of the New Orleans Saints – as he waited anxiously to learn which NFL team would select him, but the call turned out to be a prank.
Jax Ulbrich issued an apology to Shedeur Sanders (pictured) for a prank call during the NFL draft. Getty/Instagram
A day after the hoax, Sanders received the real call from the Cleveland Browns. He was selected as the 144th overall pick in the fifth round on Saturday.
Sanders is the son of Colorado coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. The University of Colorado alum was widely expected to be picked earlier in the draft because of the number of teams needing a quarterback.
While draft phone numbers are only available to a limited amount of NFL personnel, according to NFL Network’s Judy Batista, the Falcons said Ulbrich’s son saw Sanders’ number on his father’s open iPad, which he then wrote down to use later.
In a Falcons’ statement, the team had promised to “facilitate an apology directly from Jax to the Sanders family.” Jax Ulbrich released a public apology on Instagram on Sunday where he thanked Sanders for “accepting my call earlier.”
On Wednesday in a session with reporters, Jeff Ulbrich apologised to the Sanders family and the Falcons organisation for the prank call.
“My actions in not protecting confidential data were inexcusable,” Jeff Ulbrich said. “My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable and for that we are both deeply sorry. The NFL has taken action and I full respect the punishment. We take full responsibility — my son and myself — and we will not appeal the fine in any way. Going forward, I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate we are better than this.”
Jeff Ulbrich in his time as interim coach of the New York Jets. Getty
Jeff Ulbrich added he was “not happy and shocked” when finding out about the call and immediately made the organisation aware of what transpired. Afterward, they got in touch with the Sanders family to apologise.
“The Sanders family, Shedeur and Coach Sanders, were amazingly gracious,” Jeff Ulbrich said. “More gracious than they needed to be in a moment like this.”
The NFL told CNN that the league is still investigating other prank calls reported during the draft. The league said those are unrelated to the Ulbrich and Sanders incident.
