ATLANTA (AP) — Matthew Slater is more than halfway to his father's longevity as an NFL player. He doesn't plan to equal it.The star special teamer of the New England Patriots just completed his 11th pro season Los Angeles Rams Jerseys 2019 , and he's at his fifth Super Bowl, with two wins. In his dad Jackie's 20-season NFL career, he made one Super Bowl — coincidentally, with the Rams in 1980 — and lost to Pittsburgh."That's a long time to do anything," Matthew Slater said Tuesday. As for the New England kick coverage ace lasting so long, he added with a laugh: "Absolutely not." Of course, when your team becomes a regular visitor to the Super Bowl, it lengthens the season by more than a month. No one in the NFL would want to pass on that, but in reality Slater has played nearly 12 seasons, making All-Pro in 2016 and being voted to seven Pro Bowls.Not bad for someone whose Hall of Fame father didn't necessarily want Matthew to play football."He felt that way for two reasons Greg Gaines Jersey nfl draft ," Matthew Slater says. "First, he didn't want me to feel the pressure of living up to his name. He thought the expectations could be unfair."He also wanted me to avoid injury. He knew the toll it takes on you physically."Matthew and his brother played plenty of sports, and guess who usually was the coach. Yep, Jackie."Sports have always been a big part of my life and have so many life lessons from being on a team, and the disciplines of preparing to compete and how you compete, and having teammates around you. I thought they were good lessons to learn," Jackie Slater said."I discouraged them to play football. I didn't think (Matthew) would be big enough to play football. I coached in basketball, soccer, track and field, even some flag football. I didn't see football as something that he would excel. But when he played flag Cheap Greg Gaines Jersey , he had good speed and he caught the ball and ran well."Matthew kept improving in high school and grew, though not to Jackie's offensive tackle measurements. Because Jackie was unfamiliar with the kind of skills his son possessed, he turned to teammates Ron Brown — a 1984 Olympic champion speedster, who played wideout and returned kicks — and outstanding cornerback LeRoy Irvin. Brown refined Matthew's technique and speed, and Irvin worked with him on back-pedaling and breaks for receivers."Things I was not familiar with," says Jackie, who recalled watching Matthew leave everyone behind in a 100-meter race, only to have Brown say "he did everything wrong."I knew I needed to get out of the way."Not really. Matthew, now 33, credits pretty much everything he has achieved in football to his father Custom Greg Gaines Jersey , who entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001."He made every effort to be present," the son says. "That's what I appreciate the most: He was a father first. So many young kids … many black kids … I see they don't have a presence like that."Anytime I have success, certainly my dad is sharing in it. It all goes back to my dad; I wouldn't be playing this game without him. It's pretty unique, a son being able to do something his dad did. We are enjoying this ride together."For sure. But on Sunday, well, Jackie admits to being a bit torn when the Rams — his team — take on the Patriots — Matthew's team.You see, Jackie Slater still has plenty of millennium blue and new century gold running through his veins."This is a win-win situation for me," the elder Slater notes. "If my son loses, it's not as if he hasn't experienced the thrill of victory in a Super Bowl, something I never did. And if he loses Greg Gaines Los Angeles Rams Jerseys , it hurts, but he has a great attitude about it. It helps me live with the defeats he has."If the Rams win, I will be happy because I have been pulling for this team for more than 40 years. My first hero in the game was Tom Mack, who I actually played with for three years."You know, he has an unbelievable opportunity to experience things I never did. I don't know what it is like to win the Super Bowl beyond the joy my son had when he won on two occasions. That's almost as good as me winning, I felt." The Rams have not looked like the same team they were early in the year while going 1-2 since their Week 12 bye and quarterback Jared Goff‘s slide has been even sharper.Goff threw six interceptions while completing over 67 percent of his passes in the first 11 games of the season, but he’s thrown six while completing 55 percent of his throws over the last three weeks. It’s a stark change from how things have gone since Sean McVay was hired as the team’s head coach, but it’s not one that has Goff panicking about what’s coming next.“No. No, I’m not. I don’t think we are. I think we’re learning from them, learning from the mistakes in the last game and moving forward Los Angeles Rams Jerseys Stitched ,鈥?Goff said, via the team’s website. 鈥淚t is our first time going through that with Sean. That speaks to what we’ve done in the last two years, but definitely something that we’re learning through and a little bit of adversity for us to get through.”Goff said he does not believe there’s “one singular thing” that’s caused the problems over the last three weeks and facing the Cardinals this weekend would seem to be a good thing for a team trying to get back on track. If that doesn’t happen, Goff will likely be asked about panic at some point next week as well.