Ex-Northwestern Captain, Super Bowl Champ Ulrich Dies at 41

EVANSTON, IL — Matt Ulrich, a former Northwestern football captain who went on to win a Super Bowl championship with the Indianapolis Colts, died this week, according to the team. He was 41.

Ulrich, a Streamwood native who played at Northwestern from 2000-04, was named a team captain in 2004 and was a three-year starter on the offensive line for the Wildcats. Ulrich earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors during his senior season in Evanston and appeared in two bowl games during his playing career, which included a Big Ten championship in 2000.

Ulrich earned a reputation as being a top performer in the weight room at Northwestern, where he still holds records for the bench press (475 pounds), incline press (425 pounds), squat (715 pounds), and dumbbell military press (120s for seven reps).

Ulrich signed with the Colts in 2005 as an undrafted free agent and made the team, beating out two draft picks, according to his bio on Mountain Edge Athletics in Bozeman, Mont., which he founded after his NFL career ended. Ulrich played 12 games for the Colts and was a member of the Colts’ 2006 Super Bowl championship team which defeated the Bears to capture the title.

Jim Irsay, the Colts owner, announced Ulrich’s passing on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.

“I am heartbroken to hear of the passing of Matt Ulrich,” Irsay wrote in the post. “Matt was with us only two seasons but left his mark on many. Great guy, I hear he was a great dad — and he was a Super Bowl champ. My prayers to his family.”

Despite only appearing on a limited basis during his NFL games, Ulrich said being part of a championship team that defeated his hometown Bears in the Super Bowl, will go down as a career highlight.

“Seeing the confetti come down Colts colors and being able to hold the Lombardi Trophy, everyone being on the field, I had to remind myself to take one moment for myself,” Ulrich said in an interview with MontanaSports.com in 2007. “It was good advice from someone that if you do win it, take that last moment to look back at the tunnel and just look at the scoreboard, look at the field, and just know you’re at the pinnacle of sports. And that’s quite an awesome feeling.”

Ulrich assisted the Harvard Football Players Health Study as a player advisor in addition to his post-NFL playing career. He earned executive education certificates from Harvard Business School in Leading Professional Services Firms and Stanford in Strategic Marketing Management — according to his bio page on Profitable Ideas Exchange’s website.

Ulrich is survived by his wife, Alison Ulrich, and four sons. No cause of death has been determined. A fundraising effort to support Ulrich's wife and children has been set up and can be found by clicking here.