Matthew slater, a longtime new england patriots captain and special teams player, announced his retirement on tuesday after a 16-season career. When it comes to the patriots’ success over the past two decades, quarterback tom brady, head coach bill belichick, and owner robert kraft are usually the people who start and end the discussion. Rob gronkowski and julian edelman are among the other big names on the field of offense, with jerod mayo and mike vrabel as linebacker-turned-head coaches joining the ranks alongside scores of other defensive stars.
Adam vinatieri and stephen gostkowski are two of the most vital kickers in the sport since the turn of the millennium. Slater is a man who has a ten pro bowl titles, three super bowl titles, and two first-team all-pro nods in new england. Slater’s status has always been regarded as one of the top players in the sport by belichick, who named him one of the three best players he’s evercoached last summer. The patriots selected slater in the fifth round of the 2008 nfl draft, making him the team’s longest-tenured player at the time of tuesday’s announcement.
Since 2011, new england has been co-captainted by hall of fame tackle jackie slater (who made seven pro bowls himself), and his ten special teams pro bowl selections are a league record. In early september, the younger slater discussed the possibility of retirement, saying he’d been considering it for the “last few years” and realized that his career was “very, very close to the end.” The ucla product would eventually be inducted into the franchise’s hall of fame on tuesday, but it did not come to an end. Slater may return to canton, ohio, to be inducted into the pro football hall of fame one day.
