Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich Never Felt Job was In Jeopardy after Draft-Night Prank Call

When Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich's son was caught pranking high-profile Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the draft, suddenly the team's top brass had an unfortunate PR firestorm to extinguish.

Question marks over Ulbrich's ability to keep his own counsel were inevitably raised, but the Falcons opted not to make a bigger deal of the whole unsavory incident than they needed to.

To the more casual observer, backing Ulbrich simply came in the form of not unceremoniously canning him, but it's more multi-layered than just that.

While the NFL brought down some heavy financial repercussions on the organization and Ulbrich on a personal level, the survival of Ulbrich probably owes much to how savvy team owner Arthur Blank is at dealing with internal crises.

When your boss sticks his neck out for you, it often buys a great deal of devotion and loyalty moving forward, and that's where Ulbrich is with Blank and the Falcons at present.

"In all honesty, I never went there, but I felt nothing but support from the organization in every single way - from the people who worked the line in the cafeteria to [owner Arthur Blank] himself, all of them," Ulbrich told reporters last week when asked if he ever felt his job was in jeopardy.

"I felt great support from him. It was one of the biggest reasons, in all honesty, that I came back here, because of the organization and what I think of this building."

Of course, Blank and the Falcons will feel the $250,000 NFL fine in their pocket far less than the $100,000 Ulbrich has to absorb personally.

But Ulbrich made a public apology, and he and the team have moved forward. 

In all of this nonsense, the person who is probably most upset is Ulbrich himself. His son put his career in jeopardy and embarrassed a lot of people. 

"We're still working through that, but it was a challenge for our family," Ulbrich admitted. "But it's a challenge that everyone in our family's up for. And like I said, it's going to make my son better because of it."

Jeff Ulbrich is arguably the most important new face with the Atlanta Falcons this year. Atlanta went big on defense in the draft with two first-round edge rushers and two defensive backs who could end up starting as well. Ulbrich and the Falcons have put the shenanigans of draft night behind them; now, it’s the results on the field that will matter most.