Patriots legend Matthew Slater leaves his ‘new home’ for likely the last time

Sunday felt like the end of Slater’s 16-year career.

Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium all but felt like the ending of Matthew Slater’s illustrious 16-year New England Patriots career, but the long time captain did not officially announce his decision.

“Let’s talk about that another day,” Slater said postgame. “Just want to express my thanks to those guys in the locker room today. Very appreciative of all the love and support that I’ve received this whole season, and certainly today and this week. I’m just proud to be a part of that group. Even though the season was what it was, to come in and be able to work with those guys really meant a lot to me.”

As Patriots players took the field for warmups, many of them wore customized hoodies that featured the word “Captain” on the back with Slater’s No. 18. The front read “The Patriot” while a list of Slater’s top accomplishments ran down the sleeve.

Among those teammates included Slater’s long time co-captain David Andrews, who typically takes the field for pregame warmups in shorts and a t-shirt no matter the elements.

“I’ve been asked a lot about Slate,” Andrews shared postgame. “I don’t know how many more words I can say about him, but I think we’re all better for knowing Matthew Slater. If you’ve got to spend some time with him, which a lot of you guys in this room have, you know that to be true. We’re all better for Matthew Slater.”

Slater — who is never one for the spotlight — was touched by the team’s tribute.

“It meant a lot,” an emotional Slater said. “It meant a lot. I was blown away by it. I never wanted anything about my experience here to be about me, so it did make me a little bit uncomfortable, but to have the guys do that, I’ll never be able to put that into words as long as I live. It meant a lot to me.”

Beyond the support from his teammates, Slater — who had his family in the stands — was showered with love and praise from the Foxboro faithful. As he departed the Gillette Stadium turf for likely the last time, the California kid left knowing that this will forever be his new home.

“It’s very humbling. Again, I came here as a no name guy, fringe player for a lot of my career. Lot of you guys said I was getting cut early on. I thought I was getting cut too,” Slater joked. “But to have the fan base embrace me that the way that they have and appreciate what I do on the football field, appreciate what my teammates do on the football field is very, very humbling.

“You know, just, it’s hard to articulate. And I never thought, when I came here in 2008, 22 years old, so far from home, I never thought that I’d feel like this place was home for me. But 16 years later, it feels like home.”

Slater acknowledged that he would have never found his new home if it wasn’t for his long time head coach, Bill Belichick. Belichick — who has spoken highly of Slater at length throughout the years — offered one more thought of praise for his captain after his potential last game.

“I’ve spoken about Matthew at length. Just would be reiterating the same positive comments about his greatness on the field, off the field, as a teammate, his work ethic, his training, his unselfishness,” Belichick said Sunday. “On a daily basis, he’s just exemplary. And to watch his growth from, you know, when he was a rookie coming out of UCLA and trying to find a little bit of position on offense and defense and ultimately becoming as good a special teams player that has ever played this game.

“Certainly he has everything to back that up based on his long, sustained success and being the targeted guy every week. Then his leadership and presence for the team, not just the players, for the organization, the staff. He’s an inspiration to all of us.”