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NFL fines the Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 over Shedeur Sanders’ phone number leak

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CNN
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The NFL has fined the Atlanta Falcons $250,000 and team defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 over the leak of Shedeur Sanders’ phone number, the league confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.

Jax Ulbrich, the son of the Falcons DC, apologized for a prank call made to Sanders on Friday as he waited to be picked in the NFL draft.

“We appreciate the NFL’s swift and thorough review of last week’s data exposure and the event that transpired due to it,” the Falcons said in a statement Wednesday. “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.

“We are confident in our security policies and practices and will continue to emphasize adherence to them with our staff whether on or off premises. Additionally, the Ulbrich family is working with the organization to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week’s matter.”

Originally one of the NFL’s most-touted draft prospects, Sanders received a call – allegedly from the general manager of the New Orleans Saints – as he waited anxiously to learn which NFL team would select him, but the call turned out to be a prank.

A day after the hoax, Sanders received the real call from the Cleveland Browns. He was selected as the 144th overall pick in the fifth round on Saturday.

Sanders is the son of Colorado coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. The University of Colorado alum was widely expected to be picked earlier in the draft because of the number of teams needing a quarterback.

While draft phone numbers are only available to a limited amount of NFL personnel, according to NFL Network’s Judy Batista, the Falcons said Ulbrich’s son saw Sanders’ number on his father’s open iPad, which he then wrote down to use later.

In a Falcons’ statement, the team had promised to “facilitate an apology directly from Jax to the Sanders family.” Jax Ulbrich released a public apology on Instagram on Sunday where he thanked Sanders for “accepting my call earlier.”

On Wednesday in a session with reporters, Jeff Ulbrich apologized to the Sanders family and the Falcons organization for the prank call.

“My actions in not protecting confidential data were inexcusable,” Jeff Ulbrich said. “My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable and for that we are both deeply sorry. The NFL has taken action and I full respect the punishment. We take full responsibility — my son and myself — and we will not appeal the fine in any way. Going forward, I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate we are better than this.”

Jeff Ulbrich added he was “not happy and shocked” when finding out about the call and immediately made the organization aware of what transpired. Afterward, they got in touch with the Sanders family to apologize.

“The Sanders family, Shedeur and Coach Sanders, were amazingly gracious,” Jeff Ulbrich said. “More gracious than they needed to be in a moment like this.”

The NFL told CNN that the league is still investigating other prank calls reported during the draft. The league said those are unrelated to the Ulbrich and Sanders incident.

The story has been updated with additional information.



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Fan hospitalized after scary fall from outfield wall during Cubs and Pirates game

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CNN
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A fan attending the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs game on Wednesday night fell from the 21-foot right field wall and onto the field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

“Tonight, during the seventh inning of the game at PNC Park, an adult male fell from the right field bleachers onto the field of play,” the Pirates said in a statement.

“Pittsburgh EMS, as well as the Pirates and Cubs athletic training teams and other PNC Park personnel reacted and responded immediately and administered care. He was transported to Allegheny General Hospital. No further information is available at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” the statement said.

Play was stopped as medical staff attended to the fan before eventually carting him off the field.

Pittsburgh Public Safety, which includes Pittsburgh Police and EMS, posted on X late Wednesday night that the man was transported to the hospital in critical condition and that police were investigating.

The incident occurred after Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen knocked in two runs on a double to give the team a 4-3 lead. Players immediately called for help from the medical staff.

Players from both teams could be seen kneeling down, while others put their hands on their heads in concern for the injured fan.

A fan is carted off the field after falling from the stands at PNC Park.

“Truly hate what happened tonight,” McCutchen said in a statement on X. “Can’t help but think about that guy, his family and friends. I pray tonight for him. Let us think about his loved ones and hug our families a little tighter tonight. I hope he pulls thru. May God Bless you all. Good night”

Wednesday night’s incident marks the latest in fan accidents at stadiums.

A Pittsburgh Steelers fan died in 2022 after falling from an escalator at the team’s Acrisure Stadium following a game against the New York Jets.

In 2015, Gregory Murrey, 60, of Alpharetta, Georgia, tumbled out of the stands during an Atlanta Braves game against the New York Yankees. He later died from the fall.

In 2011, a 39-year-old man fell to his death while trying to catch a ball at a Texas Rangers game. He stuck out his glove and reached for the ball, but lost his balance and flipped over the railing of the outfield seats, crashing headfirst into a scoreboard.

That same year, a man trying to slide down a railing at Coors Field at a Colorado Rockies game fell and died. An autopsy later found marijuana in his system, as well as a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for driving.

This story has been updated with additional information.



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Teenager Lamine Yamal stars in instant Champions League classic between Barcelona and Inter Milan

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Denzel Dumfries gave Inter a 2-0 lead early in the first half before Barcelona roared back.

This will be a match that lives long in the memory, for players and fans alike.

The unstoppable force of Barcelona, top scorers in this season’s Champions League, met the immovable object of Inter Milan, the tournament’s best defense. The result was spectacular.

Inter scored two early goals through Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfires to stun the Olímpic Lluís Companys stadium – Barcelona’s temporary home while the Camp Nou undergoes a makeover – into silence.

But Barça fought back before the end of the first half, led by the precocious Lamine Yamal, who was simply a delight to watch all night.

Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring Barcelona's first goal.

A wonderful solo effort from the 17-year-old Yamal halved the deficit, before Ferrán Torres drew Barcelona level before the interval.

The second half wasn’t quite as frenetic but Barcelona’s defensive frailties – in particular on set pieces – were on display again as Dumfries headed home from a corner to give Inter the lead for a second time.

But, again, it wasn’t enough. There was more than an element of misfortune for Inter in Barcelona’s equalizer, as Raphinha’s stunning effort hit the crossbar and then hit Yann Sommer’s back to go over the line.

The action didn’t end there, though.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan thought he had given Inter a 4-3 lead 15 minutes from the end, but the semi-automated offside system ruled him offside by the smallest margin imaginable. There couldn’t have been much more than a toenail in it.

The return leg takes place at Inter’s San Siro next Tuesday. We can’t wait.



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Bill Belichick pushes back on claims about girlfriend Jordon Hudson following viral CBS interview

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CNN
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The ‘Chapel Bill’ era has already taken an interesting route in North Carolina, despite the famed Super Bowl-winning head coach having yet to lead the Tar Heels in a game.

Bill Belichick defended his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, after an interview he sat for, which aired on “CBS Sunday Morning” last weekend.

The interview featured a now-viral moment where Hudson quickly interrupted after the 73-year-old was asked by reporter Tony Dokoupil how Belichick and Hudson had first met.

Belichick, who was hired as North Carolina’s new head football coach in December, said CBS did not honor the expectations set for the interview.

“I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep that conversation centered on the book,” Belichick said in a statement through the university on Wednesday. “After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion.”

Belichick, the second-most winningest head coach in NFL history, backed Hudson, adding she “was not deflecting any specific question or topic but simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track.”

In the statement, the coach questioned how the interview was edited after it took place to make it seem like they “were avoiding the question of how we met.”

Belichick said Wednesday that the couple met on a 2021 flight to Palm Beach, Florida. The admission matched an Instagram post from Hudson earlier this year, which she said they met in February 2021.

The eight-minute CBS interview with Belichick was about his life in football ahead of the release of his new book, “The Art of Winning” – set to be published by Simon & Schuster in early May.

Dokoupil asked Belichick how he handles the public’s “invested” interest in his relationship with his girlfriend.

“Never been too worried about what everybody else thinks,” Belichick said. “Just trying to do what’s best for me and what’s right.”

Belichick was then asked how the pair met. Hudson jumped in from off-camera, saying, “We’re not talking about this.”

Dokoupil later referred to the 24-year-old Hudson as a “constant presence” during the taping of the interview.

“The final eight-minute segment does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career,” Belichick said.

“Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative – that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation – which is simply not true.”

CBS responded to Belichick’s statement later Wednesday, saying it was agreed upon to be a “wide-ranging” interview.

“There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation,” a CBS spokesperson said in a statement. “This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.”

The Tar Heels’ job is the first college coaching job for Belichick, who has won eight Super Bowls as an NFL coach (six as the head coach of the New England Patriots and two as a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants), since he and the Patriots parted ways in January 2024.

In addition to 24 seasons with the Patriots, Belichick was head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1995.

CNN’s Jill Martin has contributed to this report.



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