Slater changing with the times to remain effective
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Training camp has changed for Matthew Slater since he initially reported to the New England Patriots as a fifth-round draft choice out of UCLA in 2008.
“Oh, man,” Slater said Sunday when asked what he remembers about his first camp, “thinking I was going to get cut every day. There was just so much that I didn’t know and understand about playing in this league. I didn’t know what my future looked like in this league. There was a lot of angst as far as what’s today going to look like, what’s this period going to look like, can I handle what’s being thrown at me.
“It was a very stressful time. I enjoyed it, as crazy as that sounds, because I was living my dream, but it was much different then than it is now.
“The journey has been really, really great, so I’m thankful for those early years of struggle because I think they’ve made me into a better football player.”
Thirteen years later, the resume of the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Jackie Slater has put together on the Patriots’ special teams is impressive in its own right.
Slater’s nine career Pro Bowl berths as a special teams player are the most in NFL history, eclipsing Steve Tasker’s seven with Buffalo. He has played on three Super Bowl champions and been elected the Patriots’ special teams captain for 10 straight years.
“The journey,” as he calls it, has gone by
with the speed he often displays in his role as a gunner on Patriots special teams.
“It really goes by fast,” Slater said. “I never dreamed in a million years that I would play this long in the league. There are so many great athletes, so many great teams. I never thought of myself as a great athlete or a great this or that. I’ve just always been appreciative of my opportunity, keep my head down, keep working hard and see where that gets me.”
In this, his 14th camp with the Patriots, Slater admits his routine has changed.
“I think the longer you play, you start to learn what you need to do to get your body in a certain place, and I think for me it’s about my nighttime routine, the sleep that I try to get, my diet, the things that I eat, how intentional I need to be in the weight room,” Slater said. “I think a lot of times you hear people talk about as you older, that you need to work smarter. In a lot of people’s minds, smarter sometimes equals less, and that hasn’t been the case for me . ... I think that now, as opposed to just being 22 and coming in and running fast, there’s a lot more that goes into the process.”