This will be a massive test for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

When you speak of players who have ten Pro Bowls, an All-Decade, three Super Bowls, and did it all with one team, you would say automatically that this is a Hall of Fame lock.  Not so fast.

The man in question is Matthew Slater, son of Hall of Fame Lineman Jackie Slater, but his position was Special Teams.

More specifically, the younger Slater was a Gunner, and no player, including Steve Tasker, whose career was defined by non-kicking/punting Special Teams has ever made it to the Hall. This includes Steve Tasker, who did receive consideration, but arguably, Slater has the better resume.

So, what happens?  What will they do with the best player at what he does?  This is one of our most fascinating cases for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A very significant, and very intriguing name has called it a career as Matthew Slater announced via the New England Patriots social media, that he is retiring after 16 seasons in the NFL, all of which were with the Pats.

Slater made history with ten Pro Bowls, the most of any Special Teams player in football history, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer, Jackie Slater.  A Fifth Round Pick in 2008, Slater was twice a First Team All-Pro, a three-time Super Bowl Champion, and a 2010s All-Decade Selection.

Slater’s path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be difficult with Steve Tasker’s failure, but it is not impossible.  He is eligible for Canton in 2029.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Matthew Slater the best in post-playing career.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 New England Patriots.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:

1. Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

The Patriots were not a playoff team in 2022, and no players had an elevation based on the season. Saying that, we always recognize that the past year was counted in the overall rank.

As always, we present our top five, which (obviously) did not change.

1. Tom Brady

2. John Hannah

3. Rob Gronkowski

4. Andre Tippett

5. Mike Haynes

You can find the entire list here.

It is worth noting that 10-time Pro Bowl Special Teams player, Matthew Slater, was unable to advance from his rank of #23.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Special Teams never gets the respect it deserves.  For that matter, it never will!