Patriots' Captain First Impression of Tom Brady: 'I Didn't Like Him!'

New England Patriots special teams star Matthew Slater jokes that he wasn't sure about former quarterback Tom Brady when they first met.

As the New England Patriots look forward to their season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, they're also taking some time to look back.

At halftime of Sunday's game, the Patriots will honor legendary quarterback Tom Brady with a special ceremony. Brady guided the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships in two decades with the franchise, and is widely considered to be the greatest player in NFL history.

Ahead of the celebration, Patriots players and coaches have taken time to reflect on how Brady has impacted them personally. Special teams star Matthew Slater is one of the latest players to voice his opinions, but he also joked about his sour first impression of Brady.

“I didn’t like him when I got here,” Slater told the Boston Herald. "“I was like, ‘I don’t know about this Brady guy.'"

While Slater was clearly joking about this first impression, there is a hint of truth to it. Slater's father, Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jackie Slater, spent the entirety of his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Rams. When Brady and the Patriots beat the then-St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl 39, six years after Jackie's retirement, it probably left a sour taste in Slater's mouth.

However, Slater's opinion of Brady changed very quickly. Once he met the quarterback, all his concerns washed away.

“I’ll never forget my first day in here, he came up and introduced himself to me,” Slater said. “He knew a little bit about my college career, there wasn’t much to know, but he knew it. The kindness that he showed me, that he didn’t have to really has stuck with me ever since then."

Fifteen years since meeting Brady, Slater still considers him a very close friend. Of course, the fact that they won three Super Bowls together, with the last one again coming at the expense of Jackie's Rams, it's only natural that the two would be so close. At Sunday's ceremony, emotions will certainly be high for Slater and everyone else in the Patriots organization.

“I think I’ve had quite a few people ask me about this and what does it mean to celebrate Tom, and I think when you try to put it into words, what he has meant for this place, what he continues to mean for this place, it’s really hard. I’m just thankful that we have an opportunity to celebrate him the right way and our fanbase can celebrate him the right way."

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