Under the snowy skies of Foxboro, the New England Patriots appear to be paying homage to a franchise legend about to participate in his seemingly final game with the team.
No … not THAT one … at least, not yet.
After 16 seasons with the Patriots, special teams ace and team captain Matthew Slater is expected to call it a career in the days following the final whistle of New England’s season-finale against the New York Jets in Week 18. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.
Slater, one of the most revered Patriots players in the organization’s history, is being honored by his teammates during pre-game warmups, who are donning a blue hoodie adorned by the words “The Patriot” on the front, with “Captain” and his number “18” on the back.
Having spent his entirety of his gridiron tenure with New England, Slater has become one of the NFL’s most respected players, both on and off the field. In fact, he is often considered the standard to which his teammates (and even his coaches) hold themselves accountable. A 13-time team captain, he has earned two first-team All-Pro selections (2016, 2019), three second team All-Pro (2017, 2020, 2021) and 10 Pro Bowl nods, the most by a special teamer in NFL history.
For all of his on-field success, the argument can be made that Slater is equally respected off the field. The Pats captain takes great pride in his role as a mentor for many of the team’s younger players — not only leading them throughout the game, but also offering his wisdom and advice away from it.
For his contributions to the team, Patriots coach Bill Belichick referred to Slater as the “perfect player” when recently asked about the 16-year veteran.
Accordingly, Slater’s pseudo-tribute from his teammates on Sunday morning is well-deserved, and highly-unlikley to be the last of its kind in the coming days, weeks and years in Patriots Nation.
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