Current:Home > InvestPatriots' special teams ace Matthew Slater announces retirement after 16 NFL seasons -Stellar Wealth Sphere
Patriots' special teams ace Matthew Slater announces retirement after 16 NFL seasons
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:36:23
Longtime New England Patriots special teams contributor and captain Matthew Slater announced his retirement Tuesday after 16 NFL seasons.
Called "just about the perfect player" by former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Slater won three Super Bowl championships with New England and was part of five AFC championship teams.
Slater was officially listed as a wide receiver but became a special teams ace in the NFL. He made 10 Pro Bowls – a record for special teams players and was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection (2016, 2019). A "gunner," Slater was charged with lining up wide on punts and sprinting down the field to corral the opposing team's returner. He finished with 191 career tackles and caught his only pass in 2011 for a 46-yard gain.
New England drafted Slater in the fifth round of the 2008 draft (153rd overall).
"I came here as a young man with hopes and dreams," Slater wrote in a retirement letter posted by the Patriots. "In 2024, I can retire knowing this experience has exceeded any hope or dream I ever had."
All things Patriots: Latest New England Patriots news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
His father, Jackie Slater, played 20 years for the Rams as an offensive lineman and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
veryGood! (973)
Related
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Christina Hall's HGTV Show Moving Forward Without Josh Hall Amid Breakup
- How Max Meisel Is Changing the Comedy Game
- Why Kim Zolciak Is Finally Considering Returning to Real Housewives of Atlanta
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Nominations for National Guard leaders languish, triggering concerns as top officers retire
- Tiger Woods misses cut, finishes disastrous British Open at 14-over
- RHOBH's Kyle Richards Seemingly Reacts to Mauricio Umansky Kissing New Woman
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Moon fests, moon movie and even a full moon mark 55th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing
Ranking
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Alabama naming football field after Nick Saban. How Bryant-Denny Stadium will look this fall
- Rare orange lobster, found at Red Lobster, gets cool name and home at Denver aquarium
- 9-Year-Old Boy Found Dead in Arizona Home Filled With Spiders and Gallons of Apparent Urine
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- Deion Sanders got unusual publicity bonus from Colorado, records show
- Migrant children were put in abusive shelters for years, suit says. Critics blame lack of oversight
- Migrant children were put in abusive shelters for years, suit says. Critics blame lack of oversight
Recommendation
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
WNBA All-Star Weekend: Schedule, TV, rosters
Tech outage halts surgeries, medical treatments across the US
Shoko Miyata, Japanese Gymnastics Team Captain, to Miss 2024 Olympics for Smoking Violation
Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
California judge halts hearing in fight between state agricultural giant and farmworkers’ union
Tell Me Lies Season 2 Finally Has a Premiere Date
9-Year-Old Boy Found Dead in Arizona Home Filled With Spiders and Gallons of Apparent Urine