Patriots Legend Matthew Slater Still Supports ‘Patriot Way’

New England Patriots legend Matthew Slater discussed retirement, the emotions of playing in the NFL and “The Patriot Way” during his recent appearance on Chris Long’s “Green Light” Podcast.

As the New England Patriots walked from the snow-covered field at Gillette Stadium, having suffered a 17-3 loss to the New York Jets in their season-finale, longtime team captain Matthew Slater took a few extra minutes to savor the moment.

While the end to a 4-13 campaign may hardly seem like the time to become sentimental, Slater knew that it would be the final time he would wear his No. 18 jersey in the stadium he called home for 16 NFL seasons.

Despite being considered a foregone conclusion for much of the year, Slater’s retirement announcement last month served as a bittersweet moment for Patriots fans. Nearly universally beloved by New England’s faithful, the reality of no longer watching the prolific special teamer make a key tackle, or lead his famous “Awww Yeah” postgame locker room cheer became reality. Though he will miss his teammates, as well as the action on the field, Slater remains comfortable in his decision — a point he discussed Friday when joining his former teammate and fellow Super Bowl LI champion Chris Long on the “Green Light” Podcast.

“Last offseason, as my wife and I were thinking about this season, we kind of decided this would be it based off where I was physically, where we are as a family,” Slater said. “We have four kids and she just needed me home more. I wanted to be home more. So we kind of made the decision last year that this would be my last go around.”

Photo Cred: Boston Globe Staff

Slater, who is one of the most revered Patriots players in the organization’s history, was honored by his teammates during pre-game warmups of his final game, who donned a blue hoodie adorned by the words “The Patriot” on the front, with “Captain” and his number “18” on the back.

“It was very emotional. It was tough,” Slater said. “I was just overwhelmed with gratitude. I never expected to have a chance to retire from the NFL, I just assumed the game would be done with me before I was done with it. … It was emotional because this is a game I love.”

Having spent his entirety of his gridiron tenure with New England, Slater has become one of the NFL’s most respected players, both on and off the field. In fact, he was often considered the standard to which his teammates (and even his coaches) hold themselves accountable. A 13-time team captain, he has earned two first-team All-Pro selections (2016, 2019), three second team All-Pro (2017, 2020, 2021) and 10 Pro Bowl nods, the most by a special teamer in NFL history.

For all of his on-field success, the argument can be made that Slater was equally respected off the field. The Pats captain takes great pride in his role as a mentor for many of the team’s younger players — not only leading them throughout the game, but also offering his wisdom and advice away from it.

Still, the Patriots will enter a new era in 2024 — not only devoid of Slater’s wisdom on counsel, but also their first without legendary head coach Bill Belichick in over two decades. While Slater has routinely expressed his admiration for Belichick, he is also excited for the Pats to usher in a new era under first year coach, and former teammate, Jerod Mayo. 

Though the methods may change, Slater remains convinced that the spirit and structure of “The Patriot Way” will continue to be New England’s bedrock principle. 

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“I don’t think the Patriot Way changes philosophically,” Slater said. “Maybe the way it’s applied and executed changes, but all those things in terms of doing your job, working hard, putting the team first, I think those are principles you can apply in almost any arena, right? It would be smart of Jerod to continue to try to work toward those principles. … He [Mayo] is gonna be different. He’s gonna be laughing, joking, having a good time, and that’s fine. I think he needs to operate within his strengths.

“The last 24 years, that place had a lot of success. I don’t think you want to burn it to the ground and forget what was done there. He’s gotta find his middle ground and go from there.”

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