Patriots Honor Matthew Slater With Custom Sweatshirts Before What Will Likely Be His Final Game

New England Patriots special teams wizard Matthew Slater will likely retire after today’s game against the New York Jets. As such, his teammates decided to honor him with an incredible gesture.

You might be wondering why a team would even bother honoring a special team player. Only once in a blue moon does anybody on special teams besides the kicker and the punter do anything impactful in a game. What’s that big deal if one guy retires?

But Slater isn’t your average special teams player. During his 16-year career, Slater made the Pro Bowl 10 times, got five All-Pro nods, and was named a captain of the team an astounding 13 times. Oh, and he also won three Super Bowls too.

Slater will certainly get enshrined in Canton someday, in large part because he regularly made astounding plays like this. 

So yeah, that’s why his Patriots teammates wanted to honor him. He was excellence and class personified.

As such, every Patriots player in warmups wore a sweatshirt honoring their captain. Each shirt had Slater's career resume stitched on the sleeve.

But it wasn’t just his current teammates who decided to honor him. Slater’s old quarterback, Tom Brady, posted an appreciation message for the veteran as well.

But if you think all of these kind gestures are just speculation, let Slater himself do some of the talking. During the pregame, his parents and brother came to the sidelines to greet him. Slater could barely keep himself composed as he greeted his family. 

Hopefully, New England can pull out one last win for the captain. But no matter what happens, Slater will forever be a legend in Foxborough.