Matthew Benjamin Slauson (born February 18, 1986) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. He was drafted 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

in the sixth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

. 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

, 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

before retiring after the 2018 season. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Professional career

New York Jets

The

selected Slauson with their sixth round pick in the

. 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

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

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 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

, the Jets would release veteran guard

Alan Faneca Alan Joseph Faneca (; born December 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for Louisiana State University (LSU), and earne ...

. 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'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' as both were within three yards of the

line of scrimmage In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an imaginary 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 o ...

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

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'' 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.

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. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, 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 The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

. 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 that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

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 Dave DeGuglielmo ( ; born July 15, 1968) is an American football coach who is the offensive line coach for the Boston College Eagles. He has previously been offensive line coach for the NFL's New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, I ...

. 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

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, to Nancy and Robert Slauson and attended and played football at

Sweet Home High School Sweet Home High School may refer to: * Sweet Home High School (New York), located in Amherst, New York *Sweet Home High School (Oregon) Sweet Home High School is a public high school in Sweet Home, Oregon, United States The United States ...

in Oregon before graduating from

Air Academy High School Challenger Middle 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 ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. From a young age, Slauson was diagnosed with

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

, a

speech disorder Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills ...

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 Ed Block Courage Award recipients