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Pats Pro Bowler Slater defends kickoff returns
- Updated: June 2, 2016
2:50 PM ET
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots special-teams captain Matthew Slater, who has represented the AFC in the Pro Bowl each of the past five seasons, gave a passionate defense Thursday for keeping the kickoff return a prominent part of football.
A rule change for 2016 that gives teams the ball at the 25-yard line on a touchback has some speculating that the kickoff return is on the verge of extinction.
Patriots special-teams captain Matthew Slater says he might not have an NFL career without the kickoff return. Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
“I’m very disappointed, obviously, in the way we’re discussing the future of the kickoff,” Slater said at Gillette Stadium after the team’s organized team activity on Thursday. “The kickoff is a big part of the history of the NFL and the history of football. For us to be sitting here talking about maybe doing away with the kickoff, it’s very disappointing.”
Slater, the Patriots’ player representative, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, who played for the Rams from 1976 to 1994.
“I can think about days all the way back to watching my dad and thinking of returners like Ron Brown and people of that nature that made a career out of doing this,” …
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