Matthew James Ulrich (December 30, 1981 – November 5, 2023) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

. He won

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

with the Colts during the 2006 season over the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. Ulrich was named

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

team captain in 2004 and earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. He was named National Strength and Conditioning All-American in 2004 and still holds many Northwestern weight room records including squat (715), bench press (475), and incline press (425). Ulrich graduated in 2000 from

Streamwood High School Streamwood High School, or SHS, is a public four-year high school located in Streamwood, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Elgin Area School District U46, which also includes Bartlett High School, Larki ...

, where he won All-State and All-Midwest honors in

and also competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He was a three time Academic All-State in Illinois. Ulrich was the co-founder of Dexa Fit, and was director of operations and sports performance at Winning Edge Athletics in Chicago. He was also a director with Profitable Ideas Exchange, where he led a team that convenes and facilitates peer-to-peer interactions of chief procurement officers, supply chain executives, chief marketing officers, chief tax officers and managing partners on behalf of a variety of clients including Accenture, KPMG, and Slalom Consulting. Ulrich died on November 5, 2023, at the age of 41.

References

1981 births 2023 deaths Players of American football from Chicago American football offensive guards Northwestern Wildcats football players Indianapolis Colts players Berlin Thunder players People from Streamwood, Illinois Expatriate sportspeople in Germany {{offensive-lineman-1980s-stub