Stephen A. Smith Says Jeff Ulbrich’s Son Deserves a Much-Needed “A*s Whipping” for Pulling a “Cruel” Prank on Shedeur Sanders

The 2025 NFL Draft saw record ratings on Day 2 and Day 3, and a big part of that was thanks to Shedeur Sanders’ epic slide. Once a top-five projected pick, Sanders dropped all the way to Day 3 in the fifth round, where the Cleveland Browns, who’d already drafted a QB in the third, took him with the 144th overall pick.

And as if that wasn’t already tough enough for Sanders, he was prank-called long before he finally got selected.

To avoid any chance of pranks on draft day, Shedeur had secured a phone number known only to executives from all 32 NFL teams. It was a smart move. What he couldn’t have anticipated was that a defensive coordinator would leave an iPad with the QB’s number open, allowing his callous 21-year-old son to steal it and use it for a prank call.

Well, honestly, who could have anticipated a team executive’s device being misused?

But that’s exactly what happened. Newly hired Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich left his iPad unattended for a while. This gave his son Jax the chance to take the number from there and used it to prank call Sanders in the second round. Worse, this happened right as the New Orleans Saints — who were seen as a likely Shedeur landing spot — were making their pick.

Jax’s friend pretended to be Saints GM Mickey Loomis, raising Sanders’ hopes only to dash them, while laughing in a disgustingly heartless manner.

A terrible thing to do to an anxious young athlete waiting for his big career break. And Stephen A. Smith had some harsh words to say to young Jax.

“See, it’s not criminal. But it’s unethical, it’s classless, it’s amoral to some degree. And I’d like to see the face of that kid. Because sometimes you need to be embarrassed. That’s what needs to happen to you. Now, in my opinion, this kid, I sincerely hope, to Jeff Ulbrich, I sincerely hope he whipped his kid’s a**. That’s an a** whippin! That is a required a** whipping.”

Jax has since suspended his social media accounts. Smith then went on to say that not only was it a terrible thing to do to Shedeur, but it really put his own father, Ulbrich, at risk as well.

The sins of the son could have been visited on the father

Ulbrich has been around the NFL for his entire adult life. He played linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers from 2000 to 2009, going into coaching the year after retiring. By 2020, he had risen to interim defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. He then took the same job for the New York Jets from 2021 to 2024, adding interim head coach to his duties later on last year. The Falcons re-hired him as defensive coordinator in January this year.

“So your dad is the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. You go into his laptop computer and find a number for Shedeur Sanders and you prank call him. First of all, it was cruel and classless for Shedeur. It jeopardized your dad. What if the Atlanta Falcons didn’t believe that it was just you? What if they had believed it was just him? … What if the NFL didn’t believe him? Your dad could have lost his job!”, Smith fumed.

We doubt corporal punishment will be administered to a 21 year-old, technically an adult. But talk about a kid who has no regard for anyone but himself. Jax posted the video for likes on social media, but all he did was turn himself into a pariah while possibly also costing his father the trust of the organization he had joined just this spring.

Jeff Ulbrich seems like a guy who lives and breathes football, and he won’t be happy that his airhead son desecrated one of the most special moments in Shedeur Sanders’ life.

To make matters worse, it now appears that it might not have been just Sanders that Jax pulled that crap on either.

Apparently, the same miscreants who pranked Shedeur Sanders also might have pranked Penn State TE Tyler Warren in the same way, when the Jets were on the clock at No. 7 overall. Warren’s camp believes it was the same number/area code as the one that called Sanders.

Based on all the negative character analysis Sanders has faced over the last few weeks, one would have expected a temper tantrum from him in the wake of something as devastating as that prank call.

However, in another display of his actual character, he didn’t cuss out the caller or the people around him. He simply stayed calm, asked for a ball, and started tossing the pigskin around to stay cool.

Unfortunately, Sanders won’t have the pleasure of trying to get his lick back on Ulbrich’s Falcons this year. His Cleveland Browns will be playing Atlanta and the rest of the NFC South in 2026, however.

Warren, who ended up going No.14 overall, will get a chance to face the Falcons and seek some revenge this year. His Indianapolis Colts drew the Falcons as their inter-conference opponent for 2025, based on division placement.