With the New England Patriots special teams ace heavily implying Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills was his final NFL game, it might be time to ask: Is Matthew Slater a Hall of Famer?

The Patriots drafted in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft and while he was a wide receiver at UCLA, he landed on special teams in New England. The five-time All-Pro and 10-time Pro Bowler is the longest-tenured Patriots player and helped the team win three Super Bowls and helped them get two others.

“I’ve given it everything that I have,” An emotional Matthew Slater said while addressing the media after the Patriots loss to the Bills. “My dad told me when I was young that if I was going play the game, there was a certain way to play it, a certain way to go about it. I tried to make him proud and represent his name the right way – because that’s how he did it. That’s what it’s always been about for me.”

But is Slater a Hall of Famer? ESPN’s Mike Reiss joined Toucher & Rich and shared his take on whether he is or not.

Rich Shertenlieb: Is Matthew Slater a Hall of Famer?

Mike Reiss: To me, he is. I would say, Rich, I’m a little influenced by hearing in Bill Belichick over the last 23 years talk about this topic in terms of impact in the kicking game he is, but just the way they vote on Hall of Famers, I think that’s going to be an uphill climb for him to get there.

Jon Wallach: That’s a tough sell in that room with Peter King holding court. You know what I’m saying? They sit in that conference room and in the way it goes, Mike, if someone has to introduce the player, right, if he makes it to the final and then you have to somehow sell everyone else in the room on his ability to be a Hall of Famer. That’s a tough sell for a special teamer, I would think.

Mike Reiss: It is. I’ve never been in the room, so I should say that. I think the process probably is a challenging process is probably the the best way to sum it up.

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Nick Gemelli is a Producer for the Toucher and Rich program and contributor for 985thesportshub.com. you can follow Nick at @NickGemelli on Twitter.

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