ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have been fined $250,000 and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has been fined $100,000 as a result of Ulbrich’s son participating in a prank call to Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft.
The NFL confirmed the fines on Wednesday for the roles the Falcons and Ulbrich played in failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club ahead of the draft.
The Falcons, who disclosed the role of Ulbrich’s 21-year-old son Jax in the prank call as the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders was waiting for his name to be called in the draft, said they accept the discipline from the league.
At a news conference, Jeff Ulbrich apologized to Shedeur Sanders, his family, Falcons owner Arthur Blank and the rest of the organization.
“My actions — my actions — of not protecting confidential data were inexcusable,” Ulbrich said. “My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable, and for that we are both deeply sorry. The NFL has taken action and I fully respect the punishment. We take full responsibility, 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 we are better than this.”
The Falcons said in a statement that they appreciated the NFL’s “swift and thorough review” of the matter.
“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 statement said. “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.”
The Falcons also said the Ulbrich family “is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”
On Sunday, the Falcons said in a statement that Jax 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.”
Jax Ulbrich was sitting beside an unidentified friend who actually made the call to Sanders on Friday, the second day of the draft. Sanders, a standout quarterback from Colorado, is the son of Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, who began his NFL career with the Falcons.
Sanders, who entered the draft expecting to be a first-round pick, was selected Saturday in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns.
The Falcons said Jeff Ulbrich was unaware of the data exposure or the prank until after the fact. He said he made the Falcons aware of the situation and then got hold of the Sanders family to apologize.
“The Sanders family, Shedeur and Coach Sanders, were amazingly gracious. More gracious than they needed to be in a moment like this,” Ulbrich said.
The team also offered “sincere apologies to Shedeur Sanders and his family.” And Jax Ulbrich posted a public apology on social media.
The NFL continues to investigate prank calls made to other players during the NFL draft. The Associated Press reported Tuesday the call to Shedeur Sanders wasn’t related to the other prank calls.
Abdul Carter, Tyler Warren, Kyle McCord, Mason Graham and Chase Lundt also have reported receiving prank calls.
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