Matthew Slater lauds Bill Belichick's leadership in suspending game: One of my proudest moments
Matthew Slater is in his 16th season playing for Bill Belichick. The Patriots core special teams player has been through a lot, seen a lot and won a lot in his time in New England.
On Saturday night, Slater was involved in the conversation with his coach, Packers coach Matt LaFleur and referee John Hussey that ended with the preseason game being suspended.
The teams will not play the final 10:29 after Patriots rookie cornerback Isaiah Bolden was taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for further testing and observation. The Patriots report Bolden has feeling in all his extremities.
“I think the situation, in the bigger picture, overrode the game,” Belichick said, via NESN. “So, all saying a prayer for Isaiah. . . . Appreciate the way the league handled it. I think that was the right thing to do. Also saying a prayer for some of our players with their close friends and relatives in Hawaii that are going through some stuff out there. That’s really the bigger picture of it here. Kind of regroup and talk about the game later.”
It was Belichick who apparently suggested calling the game.
Slater called it "tremendous leadership" by Belichick and one of his "proudest moments" in the NFL.
“I really appreciate what coach Belichick did,” Slater said. “He took the initiative on that. Look, this is not the AFC Championship. We’re not playing for records. It’s preseason Game 2. When you have an injury like that, it affects a lot of guys in a lot of different ways. Clearly, our team was shaken by what happened, and I think coach made the right decision.
“I think that was tremendous leadership by him. I have to say honestly, that was one of the proudest moments I’ve had as a guy who’s played for him for now 16 years, to see what he did. There was no hesitation. And I appreciate coach LaFleur, as well, for standing with him. I think everybody acted swiftly, and it was the right call in this situation.”
