A potential football Hall Of Famer you’ve never of just retired from the NFL

Unheralded New England Patriots special teams ace Matthew Slater has retired from the NFL. He spent his entire 16-year career in New England, and is not often given credit for his contributions to many successful Patriots teams. We’ll summarize Slater’s career, and illustrate his potential road to the Football Hall of Fame. Statistics are sourced from Football Reference.

Slater’s individual and team accomplishments stack up favorably with some of the best players in NFL history. He’s made 10 Pro Bowls, two All-Pro teams, and has been on three Super Bowl winning teams.

The Patriots scooped Slater up in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and found a pillar of stability with that selection. Former New England head coach Bill Belichick told CBS News Boston that Slater was “just about the perfect player.”

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Belichick continued on: “He does everything you want him to do for your team, does everything—I mean he’s the first guy in, last one out. The way he trains, the way he prepares, communication, does everything he can to help the team.”

It was hard to envision this type of impressive career for Slater when he played collegiately at UCLA. As is often the case with special teams players, statistics don’t do their contributions justice. In his final year at UCLA, Slater fielded 34 kick and punt returns for a total of 986 yards and three touchdowns.

Slater recalled to CBS News Boston that his spot on the Patriots roster was anything but a given as a rookie. “Getting here, I didn’t have a position. They just told me that I was going to be playing special teams. I was literally taking things one day at a time, not knowing what to expect.”

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Slater was locked in on being the best he could be at his position, taking the “do your job” philosophy that Belichick instilled to heart. He only has three career offensive touches in the NFL, with the most notable coming in 2011. Slater caught a 46 yard pass against the Miami Dolphins, the only grab of his entire career.

The Ringer wrote a detailed piece about Slater in 2019, highlighting the ways in which he’s able to get down the field to cover punts and kick returns. The profile talks about his adeptness at weaving through blockers as the ball is in the air in order to get in position to make a stop.

As mentioned earlier, it’s difficult to interpret special teams statistics in the same way as offensive and defensive metrics. There are also many sequences that Slater made a difference in, such as disrupting the return team’s blocking scheme, causing a fair catch or minimal gain.

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Former Patriots teammate Julian Edelman posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram to Slater after he announced his retirement. Edelman wrote “he picked me up when I needed it, and challenged me when I needed it. Without him, I wouldn’t have been half the player or half the man I am today.”

Slater was introduced to the NFL at a young age. His father Jackie was a Hall of Fame offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams. Much like the demands of special teams, offensive line play requires individuals to sacrifice for the good of the team.

Jackie has remained by Matthew’s side throughout his NFL journey. Matthew told ESPN “First of all, I let my dad know I came out OK. Or if I didn’t, let him know what happened. Then we talk about the plays that happened over the course of the ballgame.”

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While the NFL discusses different ways to adjust special teams play moving forward, the significance that the third phase of the game can have is immense. The Pro Football Hall of Fame has been slow to embrace legendary special teams players, but perhaps the sentiment might be changing. Former return man Devin Hester was elected to the Hall of Fame in February 2024.

The Los Angeles Times wondered in February 2024 whether Matthew Slater would eventually join his father Jackie in the Hall of Fame. They would become the first father-son tandem to achieve that distinction in NFL history.

Belichick, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a whole host of others support Slater’s body of work as Hall of Fame worthy. He isn’t eligible to receive a call from the Hall of Fame until 2029, so it will be interesting to see if the momentum for his inclusion remains consistent over that period.

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Let us know what you think about Matthew Slater’s candidacy for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the comments section!