The NFL handed down penalties against the Atlanta Falcons and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich for the leak of Shedeur Sanders’ phone number that led to the quarterback being prank called during the NFL Draft.
The Falcons were fined $250,000 by the league, while Ulbrich received a $100,000 fine. The NFL said the fines were for “failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.”
NFL fined the Falcons $250,000 and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 for “failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.” pic.twitter.com/WAMLPkFlUh
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2025
The Falcons said in a statement that they accept the discipline and remain confident in their internal security policies. In addition, the team revealed that the Ulbrich family is working with the organization on some sort of community service initiative in response to the leak.
Statement from the Falcons pic.twitter.com/9qnEM9mcWK
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 30, 2025
The fines come in the wake of Ulbrich’s son Jax being behind a prank call placed to Sanders during the NFL Draft. Jax Ulbrich posed as New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis and called Sanders telling him that he was about to be drafted, which was not true (video here). Jax Ulbrich later took responsibility for the prank, and it was ultimately revealed that he obtained Sanders’ private phone number after his father was somewhat careless with the information.
The entire episode was pretty embarrassing for Ulbrich, the Falcons, and the NFL as a whole. The organization will now quite literally have to pay the price for it.
