Jackie Slater

Jackie Slater was one of the most highly decorated offensive linemen in the National Football League. He played on the offensive line of the Los Angeles Rams for twenty seasons and later went on to coach both professional football and college football teams.

Slater was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on 27 May 1954. He attended the desegregated Wingfield High School in Jackson and lettered in football, basketball, and track while there. Wingfield High did not have a losing season with Slater on the team.

Having excelled at high school football, Slater enrolled in Jackson State University, a historically Black university in his hometown of Jackson. He was a three-time Southwestern Athletic Conference All-Star, and his successful college career—along with his measurables at six feet, four inches tall and 277 pounds— buoyed his chances at a professional career. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round of the 1976 NFL draft.

Slater started in just one game during his first three seasons, but in 1979 he started at right tackle for the entire sixteen-game season. During his first year as a starter, the Rams made it to Super Bowl XIV, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–19. The following season, Slater kept his starting job, and the team finished with an 11–5 record, which was an improvement from the previous season.

The Rams had losing records the following two seasons, but by 1983 the team had made it back to the playoffs. Slater was both an All-Pro and a Pro Bowl player that year. His strong play contributed to the offensive line giving up less than two sacks a game while blocking for running back Eric Dickerson, who would surpass the rookie record for rushing yards in a season with 1,808. Slater also anchored the Rams offensive line when Dickerson broke the record for most rushing yards in a season with 2,105. In 1986 Slater helped Dickerson break yet another record: this time for most rushing yards in a playoff game, with 248 yards in a match against the Dallas Cowboys.

From 1985 to 1992 Slater was a stalwart and a reliable presence on the offensive line. He would ultimately make an All-Pro team four times. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl seven times and was voted the National Football League Players Association’s NFC Offensive Linemen of the Year in 1983, 1986, 1987, and 1989. In 1995, his final season, he won the Athletes in Action Award for outstanding character.

Slater’s career started to decline in the mid-1990s, and he only played one game in 1995 because of nagging injuries. He was among the few players to play for a single team for twenty seasons, with Lou Groza, Darrell Green, Jason Hanson, and Tom Brady being the only others. The Rams retired Slater’s number 78 in 1996 and put him in their Ring of Fame. In 2001 Slater entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with former Rams teammate Jack Youngblood.

After retiring, Slater worked with a Los Angeles ABC affiliate before guest coaching in Rams training camps in the early 2000s. His first full-time coaching position was in 2006. Oakland Raiders head coach Art Shell hired Slater to become an offensive line coach. Slater coached for one season and later returned to coaching as an offensive line coach for Azusa Pacific University from 2011 to 2018. The team had seven winning seasons during Slater’s tenure. In 2013 and 2014, it was the first time Azusa Pacific had back-to-back ten-win seasons.

Jackie and his wife, Annie, currently reside in Southern California. They have two sons, Matthew and David. Matthew Slater played college football at the University of California–Los Angeles, and the New England Patriots drafted him in the fifth round in 2008. An accomplished player, Matthew has been a first-team All-Pro five times, he has been to ten Pro Bowls, and he has won three Super Bowls. With their combined All-Pro and Pro Bowl nominations, the Slaters are the third-most decorated family in NFL history.