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WATCH: Gators OL Jake Slaughter Receives All-American Slab

The University of Florida officially unveiled Jake Slaughter's All-American slab outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in a ceremony attended by coaches, teammates and family.
Cam Parker|
Billy Napier, Rob Sale, Jake Slaughter and Jonathan Decoster pose as Slaughter receives his All-American brick in a ceremony outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Billy Napier, Rob Sale, Jake Slaughter and Jonathan Decoster pose as Slaughter receives his All-American brick in a ceremony outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. | Jordan Herald / UAA

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Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida Gators starting center Jake Slaughter on Friday received his All-American slab outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with coaches, teammates and family in attendance.

"Yeah, so they're stuck with me forever now," Slaughter told Gators Illustrated after the ceremony. "It's the most humbled I've ever been. It's a tremendous honor. One day I'm gonna get to take my kids here and point at my name on the ground. That's, that's true for life, you know? So, it's very special."

Slaughter, who earned his slab by being named First Team All-American by the Associate Press, was also named to the ESPN All-America First Team, PFF All-America First Team, 247Sports/CBS Sports All-America Second Team, CFN All-America Second Team and Phil Steele All-America Fourth Team.

He also earned All-SEC accolades from the AP (first team) and USA Today (first team).

"This is an acknowledgement of the job that Jake did as a football player. The way that he played, the way he produced, the way he did his job. But I think we can all agree that that was insignificant compared to the impact that he had on our team," head coach Billy Napier told the crowd to open the ceremony. "His example, his leadership, his consistency, the way he modeled these values for us each day, the way he represented himself, his family, the university and this team, I would tell you that when you have players like Jake slaughter, it makes it fun to come to work."

While the honor of being the namesake of an All-American slab outside of The Swamp is an honor, Slaughter acknowledges that his job as a Gator isn't finished. Despite decent draft grades, he elected to return for a final season with the program.

"I've looked at (the grades) a couple times. And yeah, there were some that were pretty good. There were some that were all over the place. I'm not a riverboat gambler by any means. I wanted it to be a sure thing," he said. "And like I said, you know, a lot of the decision is I wanted to come back, be with the guys and do something special."

Slaughter will headline an offensive line that sees four starters on the offensive line returning in front of rising sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway. Florida is currently in the first week of its offseason training regimen with spring camp set to open sometime in mid-to-late March.

"It's pure motivation," he said of returning to college as an All-American. "Yeah, the great thing about it is, we're already back working. There's no time to lean on accomplishment. It's time to get back to work."

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

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