At the NFL coaches and owners meeting in Florida, Bill Belichick was also present. Meanwhile, he praised his team captain Matthew Slater with one of his rare eulogies.

Munich/Palm Beach – New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is sparing with effusive praise. If he does, it’s really only for the upcoming opponent he’s being asked about.

But at the annual meeting of the NFL’s coaches and owners in Palm Beach, Belichick praised one of his players – and in doing so elevated the person in question, Matthew Slater, into the realms of the NFL’s all-time greats.

Slater is “like Tom Brady and Lawrence Taylor “

The 69-year-old, meanwhile, was not afraid of name-dropping in an interview with “ESPN”: “For sure Matt Slater will be at the top at some point. What Tom Brady is for the offence and Lawrence Taylor for the defence, he is for the special teams,” Belichick said. By that, I think he means “GOAT” status in the third phase of the game.

“And then I’ve also been fortunate enough to coach those three great players,” he continued. As defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, Belichick was “LT’s” primary contact from 1981 to 1990, and he mentored Brady as head coach with the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2019.

Matthew Slater, actually listed as a wide receiver, is entering his 15th NFL season, having been selected to the Pro Bowl ten times as a special teams player and twice to First Team All Pro.