Matt Ulrich, Super Bowl champion with Colts, dead at 41; owner Jim Irsay 'heartbroken'

Matt Ulrich, who won Super Bowl XLI with the Indianapolis Colts, died on Wednesday at the age of 41. The reason of death has yet to be revealed.

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Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, made the announcement.

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"I am heartbroken to learn of Matt Ulrich's death. "Matt was only with us for two seasons, but he left an indelible mark on many," Irsay wrote on X,

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formerly Twitter. "He was a great guy, and I heard he was a great dad — and he won a Super Bowl." My condolences to his family."

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Ulrich, who was born in the Chicago region, began playing football in high school. He was a standout offensive guard for the Northwestern Wildcats,

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who played in his hometown. He was a three-time Iron Cat and eventually became the 2004 team's captain.

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Ulrich signed with the Colts after being undrafted out of Northwestern in 2005 and made the team out of training camp. As an offensive guard, he appeared in ten games.

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Ulrich was asked in 2019 how it felt to defeat the New England Patriots on his way to the biggest game of his career.

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"One of the best days outside of my four children's births and my wedding," he told Montana Sports. "One of the best days of my life was just knowing we punched the ticket to the Super Bowl."

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Ulrich played his final NFL game on February 4, 2007, when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in the Super Bowl

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