September 19, 2024
This has been a good year for Matthew Slater, former wide receiver for the New England Patriots. A special teams player for most of his career, Slater is considered one of the great gunners (a player whose job is to tackle the punt returner) of all time. After 16 seasons, he announced his retirement Feb. 20.
But Slater didn’t leave football — or the Patriots — after all. He was hired by the Patriots to be an advisor to first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, whom he has known since they both were Patriots draft picks in 2008.
In May, Slater won the K-LOVE Fan Awards Sports Impact Award.
“It’s very humbling,” Slater said about the award. “You know it’s also uncomfortable when receiving an award like this because when I think about my story, I don’t want the focus to be on the story. I want it to be on the Author. I hope that the people in and around me understand that none of the credit should go to me.
“My journey has been a very unique one, and there’s no way of explaining it without saying that it’s all due to the goodness and mercy of Jesus.”
Slater has experienced both the highest highs and the lowest lows during his football career.
The highs within football were the years the Patriots won the Super Bowl.
“What you aspire to do as a teammate, as a brother in that locker room — to share that with those men who you did life with over the course of that year — means a great deal,” he said.
The high off the field was baptizing a teammate in a hot tub in New England two years ago.
“For those of you who are familiar with New England, that’s never happened before,” Slater remembered. “For us, it was a clear sign that God was with us and that He had shown us His favor to allow something like that to happen in our building.”
His lowest time was related to both his career and personal life.
After being married only two weeks, Slater had two shoulder surgeries during a three-week period. He seriously wondered if he should stop playing.
“God sustained me and somehow brought me through that — and somehow kept my wife happy with me. She stayed by my side.
“That was certainly a very challenging point professionally and personally,” Slater said.
Slater’s love of football was greatly influenced by his father, Jackie Slater, offensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Matthew Slater learned early on that the glamor and accolades of someone in that position aren’t easy to come by. While visiting his grandparents, Slater accompanied his father to the local Meridian, Mississippi, high school field and watched him prepare for training camp in that hot summer sun.
This was when he started to realize what it takes to be a successful football player.
“I remember those days more clearly than I remember his games. They weren’t glamorous. There was no crowd around to cheer him on. There were no lights flashing. There were no critics critiquing. Just a man — my hero — dedicating himself to the game he loved so much,” he said during his retirement announcement.
Not only did Slater’s father set an example of the hard work it takes to achieve a big goal, but he also exemplified an attitude of humility and gratefulness.
“Never burdened by the work, he understood it was a blessing to do what he loved. It was a gift from the Lord,” Slater said.
“I think about the 7-year-old me sitting in my room in Southern California and my dad sharing the gospel with me,” Slater said during the K-LOVE awards ceremony. “Never in my wildest dreams would I think the Lord would do what He’s done with my life and would use the game of football the way that He has.”
One result of his successful football career was God giving the Slater family the means to create a nonprofit foundation, Slater Family Network, which is “dedicated to partnering with individuals and families to help them meet their basic needs.”
Slater and his wife, Shahrzad, are also active with Patriots owner Robert Kraft in helping those in foster care. In May 2023, Kraft announced a $1 million commitment to six organizations to expand their foster care services.
“My mother-in-law grew up in the foster care system, and we’re very familiar with the ups and downs of that system, the stress that’s put on children and families.
“We’re just thankful that we have a platform to do good works in Jesus’ name. We’re excited in this next chapter of life to see what God has in store, to get our kids involved in it and to keep it going,” Slater said.
More than anything, Slater wants others to remember that a person’s identity isn’t from what they do but in who they are in Christ.
“Be true to who God made you to be. Be authentic. Keep the main thing the main thing.
“Stay rooted to who you are in Christ because that’s going to be ultimately what sustains you well beyond the game.”
Learn more about the Slater Family Network Foundation at slaterfamilynetwork.org/.
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This story was first published by The Alabama Baptist.
