Matthew Slater

“I've always tried to keep in perspective that I'm not different than anyone else because I play football. It's just a job.”

“We try not to acknowledge all the noise and hype surrounding ballgames.”

“There's only so much that I have control over and then the rest has really been a gift from God and I'm trying to be a good steward of those gifts.”

“That is the name of the game: executing when the pressure is on and trying to make more plays than the other team.”

“My hope has always been that the NFL in particular would start to see players is more than just helmets and pads and a number.”

“I think if you go into the season with a defeatist mindset, then you can't expect to be successful.”

“You know, I do enjoy the game of football. I've been around it my entire life so I'll always be a fan and I always have an appreciation for the guys that are out there and what they're doing.”

“I want to make sure we clear something up - Christmas is not a distraction, especially for me with my faith and the way that I try to live my life.”

“You talk about the positon of kicker - to be able to have consistency at that position year after year, kick after kick is important.”

“The story of every season is a little bit different.”

“When guys are getting double teamed, there are going to be guys getting freed up and they have to make plays when they can.”

“There's a thin line between playing with a sense of urgency and playing a little too tight.”

“Us guys that have been lower round draft picks or free agents, we just come in and are willing to work and do whatever's asked of us and hopefully it works out for us.”

“I think it helps for guys that have played in the big games to know what to understand and expect as far as the speed of the game, the intensity of the game - it's nothing like a regular season game.”

“Certainly when you play a team, you want them to be at full strength.”

“I think relationships, when it comes to a football team, are very important. I don't think it gets talked about enough, but when you're out on the football field, doing what we're asked to do each and every day, it takes a lot of trust.”

“As a player, oftentimes you don't really take the time to pause and realize how blessed you are to be living out many of our childhood dreams.”

“This is a young man's game, so there's always a lot of turnover. The NFL has always been that way.”

“I'm not out fighting fires, I'm not out on the battlefield, I'm playing football and we really are blessed.”

“We understand it's a 60-minute game. Things are going to go your way, then things are not going to go your way.”