Matthew Slater announced his retirement Tuesday, ending one of the great careers in New England Patriots history.
Slater was drafted by the Patriots in 2008 and became one of the best special teams players in the NFL, so much so that many people, including former Pats head coach Bill Belichick, think the eight-time All Pro deserves to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday.
In addition to losing a really good special teams player and a tremendous leader, the Patriots will also need someone to take over Slater's postgame tradition of giving a postgame speech in the locker room.
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Slater's speeches, particularly after memorable wins, have produced some of the best highlight clips from his career.
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His final postgame speech, given after the Patriots' Week 18 loss to the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium back in January, was a very emotional one. He talked about family and wished all of his teammates well.
The Patriots released video of the speech for the first time Tuesday. Check it out in the post below:
Slater ends his career as one of just five players to win the Super Bowl three or more times and earn 10-plus Pro Bowl selections. The other four players on that list are Tom Brady, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and Joe Greene.