The Atlanta Falcons and a coach have been fined in the fallout of the prank call involving Shedeur Sanders.
The NFL fined the franchise $250,000, and its defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich $100,000, for their roles in the incident, in which the coach’s 21-year-old son Jax Ulbrich obtained the quarterback’s phone number and made the phony phone call.
The Falcons were cited for “failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft,” according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The younger Ulbrich came across Sanders’ phone number from an “open iPad” while he was visiting his parents’ home, the Falcons said in a statement on Sunday, April 27.
Related: All About NFL Coach Jeff Ulbrich’s Son Jax — and Why He Is Being Investigated By the NFL
On Wednesday, the team said it was appreciative of the NFL’s “swift and thorough review of last week’s data exposure.”
“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 NFC South team said in a statement.
The Falcons continued, “Additionally, 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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Shedeur Sanders
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Jax, who is a student at Berry College in Georgia, was seen in a now-viral video in which he participated — along with a young man who wore an Ole Miss sweatshirt — in the fake call to Sanders.
Shedeur, the former Colorado signal-caller widely thought to be a top 3 draft pick but was not selected in the first round on Thursday, April 24, answered his phone in the video as the boys impersonated New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
“We’re going to take you with our next pick, man, but you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that,” the caller said in the video. Sanders appeared confused and replied, “What does that mean?”
Related: Shilo Sanders ‘Fired’ Dad Deion as His Agent After Brother Shedeur Shockingly Drops to 5th Round in NFL Draft
After Jax and Co. were sussed out, the college student apologized online — and made amends by allegedly placing another call to Sanders himself.
“Hello everyone, I would like to apologize on my behalf of the prank call that was to Shadeur Sanders on draft day,” Jax Ulbrich wrote in an Instagram post. “I realize that this is nothing to joke about and it was simply just a mistake of me being dumb. To the Sanders family, I’m asking for forgiveness. Everyone makes mistakes and this just happened to be mine. So so sorry.”
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