Following the departure of Tom Brady and Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater became the longest tenured member of the team last season.
Through 12 years in Foxborough, the 153rd overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft out of UCLA has put together a dominant, perhaps Hall of Fame worthy career leading the special teams unit. During his Patriots tenure, Slater has earned nine Pro Bowl honors, five first-team All-Pro Awards and was named a member of the Patriots 2010’s All Decade Team.
This past season, Slater led a Patriots special teams unit that was ranked the best in the NFL and head coach Bill Belichick offered some high praisewhen he was asked where he ranks among all of football’s special teams players.