The Atlanta Falcons are no stranger to draft-day fireworks, making surprise first-round picks in back-to-back years. Their 2025 haul was arguably overshadowed by their role in a different kind of controversy, however, with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich failing to protect confidential contact information for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who received a prank phone call orchestrated by Ulbrich’s son.
Ulbrich and the Falcons were fined a combined $350,000 on Wednesday for their actions, but it marked just the latest in a growing list of penalized infractions by Atlanta in recent years. The Falcons are self-proclaimed “Dirty Birds” as a tribute to their gritty Super Bowl bid of the late 1990s, but the nickname could now double as a moniker for their habit of NFL wrongdoings. Here’s a timeline of their recent missteps:
April 2025: Shedeur Sanders prank call
The NFL issued two fines — $200,000 to the Falcons and $100,000 to the team’s new defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich — after Ulbrich’s son, Jax, confessed to facilitating a prank draft-day phone call to Shedeur Sanders, which was caught on video. Jax’s friend had posed as New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis while speaking with Sanders, who endured an unexpected slide to the fifth round of the draft. Sanders’ private number was initially obtained by Jax from an unlocked iPad at Jeff’s home.
Exactly three months after signing Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency, Atlanta was fined $250,000 and stripped of a 2025 fifth-round draft pick after the NFL found that team brass had “improper contact” with the quarterback before his previous contract with the Minnesota Vikings had officially expired. NFL rules permitted the Falcons to negotiate a potential deal with Cousins’ agent, but team staffers apparently also had direct communications with Cousins, plus two other free agent signings.
December 2023: Bijan Robinson injury report
The NFL issued a combined $100,000 in fines — $75,000 to the Falcons and $25,000 to then-head coach Arthur Smith — for violating the league’s policy on reporting player injuries. The discipline stemmed from running back Bijan Robinson telling reporters after a Week 7 game in which he played just 11 snaps that he was battling an illness, which had not been disclosed on Atlanta’s pre-game injury reports. All teams are required to reveal both player injuries and illnesses for both competitive and sports betting purposes.
Roughly five months after stepping away from football due to mental health reasons, then-Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended indefinitely for gambling on NFL games. Ridley quickly confessed to betting $1,500 on multiple games while he was on Atlanta’s non-football injury list to close the 2021 season. The former All-Pro and first-round draft pick was later traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent the entire 2022 campaign inactive, until the NFL granted his reinstatement in 2023.
March 2015: Fake crowd noise
The NFL fined the Falcons $350,000, docked the club a 2016 fifth-round draft pick and temporarily suspended team president Rich McKay from the league’s competition committee after finding Atlanta had artificially enhanced crowd noise at the Georgia Dome. An NFL investigation revealed that the team’s former director of event marketing had used an audio file of crowd noise in an effort to give the Falcons added home-field advantage. Team owner Arthur Blank later apologized for the incident’s occurrence.
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