Underappreciated Patriots legend retires after 16 seasons

When football fans think of what made the Patriots so great over the last two decades, the conversation usually starts and ends with quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.

Some of the other biggest names on offense have included tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Julian Edelman, with linebacker-turned-head coaches Jerod Mayo and Mike Vrabel among scores of other defensive stars joining the legends as well. 

The team has even had a pair of the most clutch kickers in the sport since the turn of the millennium in Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski.

With 10 Pro Bowl honors, three Super Bowl titles and two first-team All-Pro nods, Slater deserves to be recognized as one of New England's all-time greats, too.

Belichick is one who's always seen Slater's status as one of the top contributors in the sport, as he named the 38-year-old one of the three best players he's ever coached last summer.

Slater was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, making him the longest-tenured member of the team at the time of Tuesday's announcement. 

The son of Hall of Fame tackle Jackie Slater (who made seven Pro Bowls himself) has been one of New England's co-captains since 2011 and his 10 special teams Pro Bowl selections are an NFL record.

The younger Slater addressed the possibility of retirement in early September, saying that he'd been considering it for the "last few years" and realized that his career was "very, very close to the end."

The end came on Tuesday, but the UCLA product should eventually be enshrined into the franchise's Hall of Fame. Perhaps someday, Slater will head to Canton, Ohio to join the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well.