Matthew Benjamin Slauson (born February 18, 1986) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

guard. He was selected by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He also played for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

before retiring after the 2018 season. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Professional career

New York Jets

The

selected Slauson with their sixth round pick in the 2009 NFL draft. The Jets offensive line coach Bill Callahan previously coached Slauson at

and considered him versatile, athletic, and durable. Slauson was signed to a four-year deal by the team in May. Slauson would appear in three regular season games in 2009 playing at the guard and center positions respectively. Following the team's selection of Vladimir Ducasse in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

, the Jets would release veteran guard Alan Faneca. During the team's training camp sessions, Slauson battled Ducasse to replace Faneca. On September 9, 2010, Slauson would be named the team's starting left guard. Slauson became the subject of criticism after utilizing a cut block against Brian Cushing that resulted in Cushing tearing his ACL on October 8, 2012. The play was considered legal by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' as both were within three yards of the

line of scrimmage In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an invisible transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end ...

where an offensive lineman is allowed to low block a defensive player; the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' contended that the block itself was legal but the location of the block was not. Cushing, when asked about the play, stated "It's football. It's part of the game...it happened to me, and I've been on the other side of that, so I know how it goes." Slauson was fined $10,000 by the league after they determined that he used an illegal peel-back block. Matt Slauson would test Free Agency due to then GM Mike Tannenbaum being an incompetent clown who would set the Jets back years and destroy the best offensive line in the NFL.

Chicago Bears

On March 29, 2013, Slauson signed a one-year deal with the

. On January 2, 2014, Slauson was re-signed by the Bears to a four-year contract. On January 24, Slauson was named to the ''USA Today'' All-Joe Team. In 2014, in a 51–23 loss to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, Slauson tore his right pectoral muscle and was ruled out for the rest of the season. On April 7, 2015, Slauson was awarded the Ed Block Courage Award. On May 1, 2016, Slauson was released by the Bears.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

Slauson signed a two-year contract with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

on May 7, 2016. In his first year with the Chargers, he started all 16 games at center. Slauson entered the 2017 season as the Chargers' starting left guard. In Week 7, he suffered a season-ending biceps injury and was placed on injured reserve.

Indianapolis Colts

On March 20, 2018, Slauson signed with the

on a one-year, $3 million deal, reuniting with former Jets offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo. He was named the starting right guard to start the season, starting the first five games before being placed on injured reserve on October 8, 2018.

Retirement

On February 6, 2019, Slauson announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons.

Personal life

Slauson was born in Sweet Home, Oregon, to Nancy and Robert Slauson and played football at Sweet Home High School in Oregon before graduating from

Air Academy High School Air Academy High School (AAHS) is a public high school in El Paso County, Colorado, United States that serves the northwestern end of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as well as the United States Air Force Academy. Air Academy is a part of Academy Sc ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. From a young age, Slauson was diagnosed with

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

, a

speech disorder Speech disorders, impairments, or impediments, are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean fluency disorders like stuttering and cluttering. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is c ...

that occurs primarily when he is placed in unfamiliar situations. Slauson has two other brothers, Nick and Chris, as well as a sister, Alli. Slauson is married to Cami, and the couple has a son, Montgomery James. Slauson is a nephew of Jim Thurber, best known for his appearances on Discovery's TV show "Gold Rush".

References

External links

New York Jets bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slauson, Matt 1986 births Living people People from Linn County, Oregon Players of American football from Colorado Springs, Colorado Players of American football from Oregon American football offensive guards Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New York Jets players Chicago Bears players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players Indianapolis Colts players