Matthew Slater is highly regarded as one of the best special-teams players in NFL history, and he has gotten the opportunity to work with many other stars during his 16-year career.
But, there is one that has truly stood out to him.
Slater was a guest on Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski’s “Dudes on Dudes” podcast and was asked a very important question: “Who’s the best special teamer in the league right now?”
“I have a extreme bias, but to me it’s Brenden Schooler,” Slater responded. “To me, there’s really no weakness in his game. We always talk about covering kicks and making plays that impact coverage, but in the return game, it’s very rare that the guy he’s blocking will be even close to the football. He’s a dominant player in the return game.”
“He can do a lot. He’s a freaky athlete,” Slater added.
Schooler and Slater had the opportunity to share the field for two seasons, and then after retiring, Slater remained on Jerod Mayo’s staff.
“I really feel fortunate to have played with Brenden and then had the opportunity to coach him. Our relationship is a special one because I’m much older than him, but for whatever reason, we clicked,” Slater said. “And our friendship is one that I really, really value. But I think to me, I saw really early on, ‘hey this kid’s got it,’ and to really take it to the next level, he’s got to have an understanding that it’s got to be day after day after day.
“You guys know this. Nobody shows up in the game and makes plays. What did Coach (Bill Belichick) always say, ‘Practice execution becomes game reality.’ So, once he had that register for him, and it registered early on, you saw him elevate and elevate and keep getting better.
“And we used to say to our guys, it’s not by accident that Brenden is having the success that he’s having. Look at how he’s practicing. He’s practicing harder than everybody on our football team. He’s running full speed, guys are complaining because he’s going too hard. Like that’s how you need to work to have success, and he understands that.”
