Stephen A. Smith reacts to fine for Jeff Ulbrich stemming from Shedeur Sanders fiasco

The NFL announced a punishment on Wednesday for the prank call fiasco involving Shedeur Sanders, issuing fines of $250,000 and $100,000 to the Atlanta Falcons and new DC Jeff Ulbrich, respectively. Stephen A. Smith has since reacted to that fine during the most recent broadcast of ESPN’s First Take.

While Smith was outspoken in his desire to see Jax Ulbrich, Jeff’s son and the perpetrator of the event, get an “ass whipping,” Smith was rather sympathetic to the blowback for the elder Ulbrich. The fine certainly stings, but Smith also described it as an overall embarrassment for the defensive coordinator.

“I feel bad for Jeff Ulbrich from the standpoint of yeah, it is a $100,000 fine, and obviously that’s some money. The man ain’t walking around making 10s of millions of dollars or anything like that. But the other side to this is it’s an incredible embarrassment,” Smith claimed.

Smith went on to continue hammering Jax for his role, describing the motives as clearly designed to try and hurt Sanders on a personal level. He also believes the fines are more than justifiable.

“I think all of these fines are absolutely, positively appropriate, and as far as I’m concerned, (Jax) should be put (out front) for what he’s done,” said Smith about the younger Ulbrich receiving negative attention.

While Sanders has been the most prominent individual involved in the prank call situation, No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter also joined the list of individuals to receive prank calls during the draft. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, confirmed that on Wednesday, though Rosenhaus said it was evident immediately that the prank call was not a serious draft call.

So far, ESPN has indicated a total of 6 players that received some form of prank call during the draft, and the NFL is still investigating the source of those calls.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.