Patriots Honor Veteran Captain After Potential Final Game: 'Made Us All Better!'
Most of the focus during Sunday's loss to the New York Jets was on legendary coach Bill Belichick's final game for the New England Patriots. But another franchise icon was suiting up for potentially the last time as well.
Maybe even two more? In addition to Belichick's "Foxboro Farewell," offensive captain David Andrews says he is mulling retirement after a long, disappointing season.
Special teams captain Matthew Slater talked about this potentially being his final game in the week leading up to it, and it sure felt like a finale. Slater, 38, was emotional before, during and after the game, and teammates wore hoodies honoring him during warmups.
If this truly was Slater's final game, the Patriots made sure it was a fitting conclusion to a legendary career, and that extended to after the game as well.
Matthew Slater and Patriots owner Robert Kraft
"I've been asked a lot about Slate," Andrews told reporters. "I don't know how many more words I can say about him, but I think we're all better for knowing Matthew Slater. If you've got to spend some time with him, which a lot of you guys in this room have, you know that to be true. We're all better for Matthew Slater."
A fifth-round pick in 2008, Slater has cemented himself as one of the greatest special teams players in NFL history. With 10 Pro Bowl nods in 16 seasons, he was instrumental to the second half of the Patriots' dynastic run, and his impact is not lost on the newer players.
"For me, just special teams, and him being a leader," receiver Jalen Reagor said. "Regardless of the outcomes, he is very resilient. He is a legend, a Pro Bowler, so I respect him."
Perhaps more importantly than his on-field impact is how much Slater has meant to the locker room. He's by far the longest-tenured player remaining on the team, and as he has been an excellent mentor to those around him throughout his career.
"Just on and off the field – he's shown that leadership is just not on the field," linebacker Ja'Waun Bentley said. "Leadership doesn't have to do with your sport, it doesn't just have to do with what you do on a day-to-day. But everything kind of falls, goes hand-in-hand in a way.
"When you leave this building, you're still looked at in that light, you're still seen in a leader whether it be him involved in social justice and all the other things. I mean, when Slate walks into the room, the whole energy changes. You can't necessarily pinpoint what that is, it just is."
If this was indeed Slater's final game in New England, it likely won't be long before the Patriots retire his No. 18 jersey.
