Matthew Slater, Special Teams Superstar

[soxfan121]

http://central.sonsofsamhorn.net/nfl/matthew-slater-special-teams-superstar/
by Chuck Zodda
 

On Monday night, the New England Patriots attempted to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in a game of football. They lost. Convincingly. For much of the night, they were outclassed, outhustled, and outthought by a Chiefs team that manhandled them in nearly every facet of the game. I use the qualifier “nearly every” because there is one position on the football field where the Patriots consistently rank head and shoulders above the rest of the competition out there. That position is punt gunner, and the man responsible for handling those duties for the Patriots is Matthew Slater.
 
Slater was selected in the fifth round of the 2008 draft with the 153rd overall pick. Although listed as a wide receiver out of college, the Patriots clearly had plans to utilize him extensively on special teams. In his rookie season, Slater played in 14 games, returning 11 kickoffs for 155 yards and recording 12 tackles on special teams. Since then, he has blossomed into a star special teams performer, making the Pro Bowl in each of the last three years and been bestowed with All-Pro honors in 2011 and 2012. His play on Monday night is a perfect example of why he has earned such recognition over the course of his career.
 

 

 

[mascho]

Always funny to take a trip down memory lane....2008 NFL Draft Game Thread Day 2

 

[soxfan121]

"Matt Slater might be the best special teams player ever, in the history of football," said UCLA punter Aaron Perez, who at first was skeptical of having Slater as a gunner but was convinced after one play.

Link


Edit: quote

 
 

I've seen plenty of teams use a pick on a return guy. I have never seen anything like what the Pats are doing today though - drafting two special teams gunners who have no hope of being regulars on anything but ST.

This is a godawful waste.

 
Some highlights of the reaction. That Freddy Linn guy should get a gold star or something.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

Always funny to take a trip down memory lane....2008 NFL Draft Game Thread Day 2

 
Ugh, I'm a moron.  Reading my responses... ugh.
 
 

Gerbil, I'd relax. This team doesn't waste draft picks, and they don't waste 3rd rounders on ST gunners. I'm sure they have other plans.

 
Just post this whenever I say anything, okay guys?
 
Edit:
 
And this too:
 
 

Danny Woodhead will never get this much attention for the rest of his life.

 

[IdiotKicker]

It really is spectacular how bad the rest of the Pats draft in 2008 was.  Really 2006-2008 was just pretty terrible for them.

 

[soxfan121]

It really is spectacular how bad the rest of the Pats draft in 2008 was.  Really 2006-2008 was just pretty terrible for them.

 
This cannot be repeated enough. These last few Pioli drafts set the stage for the shitty defenses of 2009-2011 and indirectly contribute (to this day) to the "lack of weapons" on offense. They had to use so much draft capital fixing the Pioli Fails that they couldn't supplement the OL along the way. 
 
Well, that and Hernandez's passion for killing dudes.

 

[Number45forever]

Got lost recently in a web of watching Hernandez highlights from when they really had the no-huddle working.  They had Hernandez taking handoffs, lining up in the backfield, it was magical.  They were running some 3WR, 2TE sets and then basically doing power rushes off that.  It was fucking unstoppable.  Would have been cool if that guy decided not to kill a bunch of guys.

 

[IdiotKicker]

Got lost recently in a web of watching Hernandez highlights from when they really had the no-huddle working.  They had Hernandez taking handoffs, lining up in the backfield, it was magical.  They were running some 3WR, 2TE sets and then basically doing power rushes off that.  It was fucking unstoppable.  Would have been cool if that guy decided not to kill a bunch of guys.

 
Agreed.  The end of 2012 was really starting to show some unbelievable creativity in terms of playcalling and what they could do.  Just don't fucking kill people.

 

[Super Nomario]

 
 
 
Some highlights of the reaction. That Freddy Linn guy should get a gold star or something.

Can we get SpacemanzGerbil to write an angry post-draft rant for FC next year? I'm sure he will hate the draft, because he always hates the draft. I often disagree with him but it's always pretty entertaining how worked up he can get about Bethel Johnson 10 years later.

 

[Kliq]

Funny sometimes how genetics work. An OT has a son in the NFL, as a speedy gunner. I guess it goes to show how athletic O-Linemen really are. The Slater family has 10 Pro-Bowl nods between them, the second most by a family outside of the Mannings, and fuck those guys.
 
LaFell and Slater were the only two guys on Monday who appeared to not have a load in their pants.