It's no secret to football fans that wide receiver Matthew Slater is a Christian. The athlete is very vocal about his faith, and often responds to media talking about his relationship with God and how big a role that plays in his career and life success.

Slater shared how his faith in Jesus is bigger than football. "To me, my faith is everything," Slater said in an interview with the Gospel Herald. "I was fortunate to be brought up in a Christian home with two parents that feared the Lord, and they raised me to fear the Lord as well."

30-year-old Slater is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, who played 20 years of professional football as an offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams and St. Louis Rams. Matthew feels blessed to be able to follow in his father's footsteps, and considers it an honor to "represent the name on my back."

Slater is not only a man who talks publicly about his faith, but practices it as well as he constantly gives generously to a number of charities and non-profit organisations such as Samaritan's Purse, the Ron Burton Training Village and their home church New England, Bethel AME.

The young Slater has played 8 seasons with the New England Patriots, after being drafted back in 2008, and has started 3 games, all in 2011. In that same year, he was voted by his team mates as Special Teams Captain, where he built a strong performance and performed a team high of 17 tackles in that season.

He was selected to the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 Pro Bowl as a special teamer. The wide receiver's talent is evident as the Patriots just wrapped up their seventh consecutive AFC East championship.

Slater is married to Shahrzad Ehdaivand and together they have one newborn child, Jeremiah.