Matthew Slater

“My dad and I are both men of faith and we realize that we're not self-made men. We've had a lot of things happen over the course of our lives that have allowed us to be in the position that we're in - people pouring into our lives, coaches, friends, our wives, and etcetera.”

“I don't have a snow blower, so I guess I'm a shoveler.”

“I'm a man who is far from perfect, but I really feel like the Lord has done a lot of great things in my life. He's working on me as a man, as a husband, as a father.”

“Taking the time to learn about the people that you work with, the people that you deal with day in and day out, it really goes a long way.”

“You think about Steve Tasker and his impact on the game of football, Bill Bates, the list goes on. The kicking game has meant a lot to the game of football and to a lot of players individually and it's enabled guys to have careers.”

“As a competitor and a player in this league, you hate to see other players get injured, no matter who it is or how you feel about them.”

“I'm just trying to figure out where I can get my Ebner rugby jersey.”

“My family and I are passionate about the ways that we give back. We're passionate about building relationships in the community, helping others around us, and doing it the right way. So I think with the responsibility of playing in this league for 15 years, you incur other responsibilities off the field.”

“Hurricane Matthew has obviously had a devastating effect on a lot of people so we wanted to do something that would provide some relief efforts for the people affected by this.”

“You just have to try to adapt and survive as a player and continue to improve and we all understand that's the nature of the NFL.”

“I think the sole reason that you play this game is to be the best and you want to be the best team. This is the ultimate team sport.”

“I think sometimes it's better to learn from someone else's experience than making that mistake yourself.”

“You can be Larry Izzo if need be and try to carve out your role in the third phase of the game.”

“Whatever you have to do to put the team and the success of the team first is what I see as being 'the Patriot way.'”

“When it comes to successes or failures in this league you have to be able to have a short memory and move on.”

“I think that's the nature of this league. You look at the average career length and it's about three and a half years, a little bit less than that.”

“Everyone wants to win and have success, and everybody's going to be judged off of whether or not they're winning.”

“The more heady you are and understanding of teams and techniques, you put yourself in a better position to make plays.”

“There are so many good players, so many good coaches.”

“I remember running around the locker room as a kid, just following my dad around. It was definitely a unique experience not a lot of children get to have. But those are memories I'll always cherish.”