HOUSTON • Matthew Slater has a hero, and his name is Isaac Bruce.
Slater, the special teams whiz for the New England Patriots, is the son of Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jackie Slater. He got to know Bruce, and looked up to him, starting in 1994 which was Bruce’s rookie season in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams.
“I met Isaac a number of times with my dad,” Slater said Thursday. “When the team moved (to St. Louis) I was in the fifth grade, so I was old enough to remember.”
Jackie Slater, bothered by an elbow injury, played only one series of one game in 1995, the inaugural season for the team in St.