Matt Slauson

[zero_blitz]

Great article in the OWH about Slauson getting his first start tomorrow. Slauson gives his position coach, Bill Callahan, high praise, noting he wouldn't be in the position to start were it not for Callahan. Do Slauson's comments grant Bill any redemption in the heart's of Husker fans for the decade or so he set the program back????????

 

http://omaha.com/article/20100912/SPORTS/709129846#ex-husker-slauson-excited-ready-for-first-start

 

 

This is Matt Slauson's life Monday night at 7:30.

 

He'll make the first start of his career on Monday Night Football in the media capital of the world for the media darlings of the NFL, the New York Jets.

 

He'll be replacing Alan Faneca, a six-time All-Pro and one of the best offensive linemen of the past decade, whom the Jets released in April.

 

He'll try to protect Mark Sanchez, one of the league's brightest young celebrities, from the Baltimore Ravens, one of the league's meanest old defenses.

 

Ray Lewis will be barking at Slauson from his linebacker post. Haloti Ngata, a 350-pound Pro Bowler, will be itching to tear the former Husker apart.

 

And if Slauson screws up, Jets coach Rex Ryan will be waiting for him on the sideline with a catalog of four-letter words.

 

So, Matt, how you feeling?

 

“I'm super excited. This is a dream come true for me,” Slauson said late Saturday night. “I'm also really nervous, really scared. I've been sleeping (poorly) all week long.”

 

Rest is hard to come by when you're one of very few question marks for a team that boldly proclaims its 2010 goal:

 

“Super Bowl or bust,” Slauson said.

 

The Jets drafted Slauson out of Nebraska in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. Not many sixth-rounders make the roster, let alone earn a starting spot 16 months later for a playoff team.

 

The Jets led the NFL in rushing in 2009 and it was no fluke. Four of their five offensive linemen had been to a Pro Bowl.

 

The team was expected to keep that line intact for a Super Bowl run. Instead, it dumped Faneca's big salary.

 

Slauson, who played just three games in 2009, said he spent countless hours in the weight room and in the film room preparing for training camp.

 

“I knew when we let go of Alan, this was my shot,” Slauson said. “And I wasn't going to waste it. Shots like this don't come around all the time.”

 

Slauson is an intriguing name these days not only because of his starting role. He's an inside source on other newsworthy topics, like “Hard Knocks,” Bill Callahan and Danny Woodhead.

 

• On “Hard Knocks,” the five-part HBO miniseries dedicated to the Jets' training camp:

 

Slauson said he liked having cameras at camp and watching each week with teammates. The show gave friends and family a glimpse at his world, he said.

 

Slauson's main contribution to the drama was a fight at Jets practice.

 

“Fights happen in camp all the time,” he said. “The guy I was fighting with, he's actually one of my best friends on the team.”

 

• On Bill Callahan, his offensive line coach:

 

“To have him with me is truly a blessing. I believe if I wasn't with him, I wouldn't be in the NFL right now. ... I feel like I have made so many strides in the past year that I probably wouldn't have made without him.”

 

Slauson said Callahan acts differently than he did as head coach at Nebraska. He's more relaxed, more “in his element.”

 

“The guy smiles more than anyone I've ever seen,” Slauson said. “I don't know what it is, if it's just being able to focus on the offensive line or what. I can tell every day he's just having a blast.”

 

• On Danny Woodhead, a former Chadron State star who was also featured on “Hard Knocks”:

 

“I tell you what, that guy is an absolute beast. I love hanging out with him. He works so hard. He's so incredibly talented.

 

“If he was 6-foot-1, he would be an All-Pro already.”

 

Slauson, who'd rather wear cowboy boots than football cleats, spends a lot of time off the field with Woodhead, a North Platte, Neb., native.

 

“We don't go in the city much,” Slauson said. “We're both homebodies. We love sitting at home with our wives. We don't really get out much like a lot of people do, just because we aren't comfortable in that atmosphere yet.”

 

The Big Apple is nothing compared to Monday Night Football.

 

In August, Slauson's parents told him they wanted to come to New York to see him play.

 

Not yet, Slauson told them. He intended to win a starting job. And when he did, they could watch him in the regular season.

 

Saturday night, he picked up his folks at LaGuardia. Took them out to dinner, then went home and prepared for his first night on the job.

 

It gets easier Tuesday morning.

 

Contact the writer:

 

649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

[TheCheshireCat]

From what I've heard Callahan is one hell of an O-line coach. Just another example of a guy who isn't head coach material, at least not at the college level. A few more false starts and holding calls and I'd be happy to have him back coaching the O-line. Our line commits way too many penalties.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Do Slauson's comments grant Bill any redemption in the heart's of Husker fans for the decade or so he set the program back????????

NO!!

 

But I agree with Cheshire's comments. I've heard he's a good O-Line coach.

[Husker_x]

Not to beat a dead horse, but Callahan's problem wasn't that he couldn't coach. It was that he couldn't be a head coach at the college level. And that's not his fault. It just wasn't his skill set. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get an OC position somewhere in the next few years and spend the rest of his career doing that.

 

Being a college coach is just a different game than in the pros. Callahan never understood that part. He's where he's meant to be now.

[74Hunter]

A few more false starts and holding calls and I'd be happy to have him back coaching the O-line. Our line commits way too many penalties.

Meh. The O-line play was suspect at best when C******n was here. If I want any ex-coach to come back and help the line, it would be Uncle Milt.

[HuskerT]

Not to beat a dead horse, but Callahan's problem wasn't that he couldn't coach. It was that he couldn't be a head coach at the college level. And that's not his fault. It just wasn't his skill set. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get an OC position somewhere in the next few years and spend the rest of his career doing that.

 

Being a college coach is just a different game than in the pros. Callahan never understood that part. He's where he's meant to be now.

Couldn't agree more. See Charlie Weis

[ludedude]

man slauson just got owned. the tackle bull rushed him and knocked slauson over to sack mark sanchez

[HuskerT]

man slauson just got owned. the tackle bull rushed him and knocked slauson over to sack mark sanchez

How many F-bombs you think Rex dropped watching that play?

[ludedude]

the jets offense was embarrassed by the ravens. i feel bad for slauson, i was rooting for him.

[wilber24]

the jets offense was embarrassed by the ravens. i feel bad for slauson, i was rooting for him.

I just cannot help thinking Callahan had something to do with this!

[NUance]

the jets offense was embarrassed by the ravens. i feel bad for slauson, i was rooting for him.

I just cannot help thinking Callahan had something to do with this!

Slauson had a tough time last night against Haloti Ngata of the Ravens. Ngata is a beast. Probably one of the better DTs in the NFL. Imagine what we could have done with him if he had stuck with his commitment to us a few years back.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

man slauson just got owned. the tackle bull rushed him and knocked slauson over to sack mark sanchez

 

I watched him all night and that was his only bad play. Unfortunately it was a real bad play on his part.

[holvy83]

the jets offense was embarrassed by the ravens. i feel bad for slauson, i was rooting for him.

 

The Jets offense is horrid, they looked just as bad in preseason, but the RAYvens led D had a little something to do with it, he is still a FREAK!