When Patriots legend Matthew Slater was drafted to New England in 2008, former head coach Bill Belichick let him know what his role would be.

The 39-year-old was drafted out of the University of California where he played many positions. During his time in college, he earned First-Team All-Pac-10 honors before being selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the NFL draft.

With playing a number of roles in college, Belichick didn’t want Slater talking about where he’d fit in on the Patriots roster.

“I’ll never forget, he calls me he’s like ‘Look, when you talk to the media, let’s not talk about what position you’re doing. I’m bringing you here to help us in the kicking game and we’ll figure out where you’re going to play,’” Slater told Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on the “Dudes on Dudes” podcast. “So I always reference that conversation with him because he set the expectation for me. It was very clear what my role was going to be, what was expected of me when I got here.”

When Slater was drafted, New England was coming off an undefeated 16-0 regular season where the team went 16-0. While the Patriots lost a few players the next season, Belichick was still confident in his team, and he let the rookies know.

“It was a unique time to come to the team,” Slater said. “They were undefeated in 2007 so sitting in that first team meeting, Bill was like ‘Look, we just went undefeated last year, we don’t need any of you guys.’”

Slater played 16 seasons in New England and helped the team to three Super Bowl championships with 10 Pro Bowl selections.

After his retirement, Slater took on a role as special assistant under former head coach Jerod Mayo. In 2025, though, he is focusing on staying at home with his family instead of football.

“I’m in full dad mode right now. I’m enjoying my time at home,” Slater said.