The NFL will attempt to put the Shedeur Sanders prank-call storyline in the past, levying fines against the Falcons and new DC Jeff Ulbrich. The veteran coordinator’s son, Jax, made a prank call to Sanders as he fell during the draft. Jax Ulbrich, who pretended to be Saints GM Mickey Loomis when calling the Colorado QB during his draft freefall, apologized to Sanders (after taking the QB’s number off his father’s iPad), but Jeff Ulbrich will lose a chunk of his salary as a result of the act. The league fined Jeff Ulbrich $100K, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who adds the Falcons will be fined $250K for Sanders’ number being leaked. Jeff Ulbrich said (via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall) he and his son take “full responsibility” for the prank. The veteran assistant said he also apologized to Deion Sanders.
Unlike the Falcons’ Kirk Cousins tampering penalty last year, no draft picks will be taken away for the incident involving the Ulbrichs. The Falcons hired Ulbrich to replace Jimmy Lake, whom Raheem Morris fired after one season on the job. This has certainly not been a smooth ride for Falcons DCs. Ulbrich is the team’s fourth in four years (Ulbrich, Lake, Ryan Nielsen, Dean Pees), and the former Jets interim HC’s tenure is not off to a good start thanks to this development. The Falcons have now been fined $575K over the past three years (h/t Yahoo’s Nate Tice), thanks to this coming after the 2024 tampering issue and 2023 Bijan Robinson injury report matter.
Here is the latest from the NFC South:
- Jadeveon Clowney has become available in trades, and the Panthers had thrown his name around before drafting two edge rushers (Nic Scourton, Princely Umanmielen on Day 2. Carolina’s pre-draft discussions on Clowney with multiple teams, per ESPN.com’s David Newton. As Ejiro Evero will begin molding the two rookie edge players, Clowney could be on the move yet again. The Panthers would save $9.78MM by trading Clowney, who is on his sixth NFL team.
- The Panthers are pulling Hunter Renfrow back into the NFL, after the former 1,000-yard Raiders wide receiver did not play in 2024. Renfrow, 29, took last year off in part because he was battling an autoimmune disorder (ulcerative colitis) that caused fatigue and weight loss, according to Panthers.com’s Darin Gantt. The Clemson alum said the weight loss caused him to drop to around 150 pounds. Renfrow viewed himself as ready to make a comeback by January, and he is now back to 187 pounds. The Panthers’ receiving setup will not guarantee Renfrow a roster spot, as he fell out of favor with the Raiders following his 1,038-yard 2021 season. But the South Carolina native will have a shot to make an impact in his native region.
- One of Ulbrich’s new pieces to arrive in the draft, fourth-round pick Billy Bowman, enters the league as a safety. But that will not be his primary role in Atlanta. The Falcons will shift Bowman into the slot to start his career, Ulbrich said (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter). The Falcons took Bowman with the No. 118 overall pick. He will head to Georgia after earning first-team All-Big 12 (2023) and third-team All-SEC (2024) acclaim. The Falcons addressed their safety position in the third round (Xavier Watts) and in free agency, bringing in Jordan Fuller as another option to start alongside Jessie Bates. Justin Simmons remains a free agent.
- The Saints added some edge-rushing depth this week, agreeing to bring in veteran Chris Rumph. This came shortly after New Orleans agreed to terms with 11 UDFAs.
The NFL just magnified the story by laying out such a ridiculous amount to the team and Ulbrich. Stupid behavior but $250,000 to the team? Cmon. Only reason this is happening is because it was Sanders and it was played on every social media site and news site.
Well yeah, an embarrassing incident for the league is more embarrassing because it was high profile. Being insecure with player personal information is also a pretty big deal. If I were an agent whose client’s personal contact information leaked to a bunch of hostile college kids, I’d want to see the reckless party to be made an example of.
Fine doesn’t fit the crime. Not close.
I see your point, but it’s also Ulbrich’s kid. It’s not like it was someone outside, it was someone in his own home. Fining Ulbrich personally makes more sense than fining the team, but it’s an odd thing to be so incredibly harsh about considering some of the other areas where the NFL has been so lax in comparison.
I do agree, though, that some form of punishment was necessary. Personal information of high profile people should be seen as targetable stuff. I imagine the fine is a gesture to ward off a suit, as well.
The Ulbrich kid was also with his frat boy friends. If you let sensitive information into hands where it doesn’t belong, it can go anywhere. Of course the weird part is that Ulbrich has now gotten more consequences than Pete Hegseth.
Ulbrich leaving his laptop open around frat boy morons is flat out dumb. And I’m glad you mentioned the other frat boy moron who got away with it.
Carter and several others got prank calls during the draft. But sanders shared the video and this is where we are. Talking about sanders
Oh yeah, I think you’re probably right on that aspect. My reply was in response to Oof’s post.
I imagine Ulbrich’s kid is not going to have a pleasant stay at home when school lets out for summer in a couple of weeks.
Seems like Jax might have hung out a bit too much with Jack and Brick…
As I said to a friend, “How did I know this was somehow going to connect to the Jets?”
Well, the name “Jax” conjures up a connection phonetically, at the very least.
But yeah, it was predictable.
Pretty sure he’s 19.
Sending a message with an excessive fine. I’m a falcon fan and I support this. Dumb kid? Yeah. But if you’ve got a dumb kid at home it’s on you to keep him from that kind of information and I was admittedly a really dumb kid.