Matt Ulrich, Former Indianapolis Colts Star and Super Bowl Champion, Dead at 41

Matt Ulrich, a former NFL offensive lineman who spent two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, died on Nov. 5, team owner Jim Irsay announced. He was 41 years old. The cause of death was not announced, but Irsay praised Ulrich for the impact he made as a football player and family man.

“I am heartbroken to hear of the passing of Matt Ulrich,” Irssay wrote on social media. “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.”

Ulrich played for the Colts in 2005 and 2006. He was on the team when the Colts won the Super Bowl during the 2006 season. In his two years with the Colts, Ulrich played in 10 games. Following his NFL career, Ulrich was a player advised for Harvard’s Football Player Health Study, a chief growth officer and partner for Profitable Ideas Exchange and was the head coach of Mountain Edge Athletics in Bozeman, Montana, according to CBS Sports.

“My wife and I always dreamed of raising our family in Bozeman, MT, but 20 years ago there were far fewer professional jobs available,” Ulrich wrote on the company’s bio page. “It warms my heart that when we delight clients and grow our business, we create new jobs here in Montana for families who have the same dreams I did.”

Ulrich also wrote that he loves spending time with his sons and other athletes looking to be great. “Keeping up with my four preteen sons is the highlight of my life and keeps me on my toes,” he wrote. “I also invest my time in helping young athletes in our area reach their full potential through coaching and training — this is one of my true passions. I can also often be found at the gym, where I recently bench-pressed 505 pounds at the age of 40 — the goal-setting doesn’t stop!”

Ulrich played college football at Northwestern and was named team captain in 2004. He is survived by his wife, Alison Ulrich, and their four sons, Gunther, Dalton, Bowden and Thoreau. A fundraiser has been launched to support the family, and the page has over $66,000 in donations as of Monday morning.

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Taylor Swift took over the NFL again as she attended the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Jets game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey Sunday night. The game was nationally televised on NBC, and the network did not shy away from showing Swift when it could. The Swift appearance led to big ratings for NBC as the game was watched by 27 million viewers, making it the most-watched Sunday program since the Super Bowl aired on Fox in February, according to NBC Sports.

Swift was at the game to support her rumored boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Before the game, NBC created a “Taylor Made for Sunday Night” promo, and it was viewed eight million times. As the game was being played, the female viewership increased, specifically among teenage girls as it spiked 53 percent from the season-to-date average for the first three weeks of Sunday Night Football.

This is the second consecutive week Swift attended a Chiefs game. Last week, the 12-time Grammy Award winner was at Arrowhead Stadium to see the Chiefs take on the Bears. The NFL loves the attention Swift is bringing, but there are a good amount of NFL fans who are ready to move on from the “Shake It Off” singer.

One fan wrote: “Is this her first time out in public or something everyone acting like shes never been outside of her house ever. should we give her a reward for going out.”

One social media user wrote: “Please don’t bore us with the Taylor Swift hype. We know she’s dating Kelce we know she’s there. We don’t need to see her clapping every time he does something.”

One social media user said: “Aaron Rodgers is at the game but NBC SPORTS is more focused on a singer in a luxury box.”

And this person wrote: “Whatever the line was for NBC showing Taylor Swift on the [Sunday Night Football] telecast, it has to have hit the over already.”