INDIANAPOLIS -- Patriots receiver Matt Slater knows better than to take a Super Bowl trip for granted.
His father, Jackie Slater, was an offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams who played in the Super Bowl after the 1979 season. The Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Jackie Slater never went back to a Super Bowl in a Hall of Fame career that lasted until 1995.
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"I think that was one of the biggest things that he kind of missed on his career is he never won a world championship," Matt Slater said. "I knew how much that meant to him because he was a huge team guy."
Dad already has offered son some advice about handling the pressure in the week leading up to the game.
"He told me just to do everything I can to prepare myself for the game on Sunday so that I can live with no regrets," the fourth-year player from UCLA said. "And realizing that this opportunity is not guaranteed to me in my career again, so just to do everything I can to take advantage of the opportunity and maximize it so, at the end of the day, I have no regrets at all."
Matt Slater wasn't around when his father played in the Super Bowl -- he was born in 1985 -- but Jackie's vivid memories have connected Matt to the experience.
"Even to this day, he talks about the game, and he can almost call off every play to you and just remember the ebb and flow of the game," Matt Slater said. "It meant a lot to him. Unfortunately it didn't work out for him, but it's definitely a memory he has and will have as long as he lives."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press