Slater’s ex-Pats teammate said he felt ‘duped’ by The Dynasty producers after interviewing with them
NEW England Patriots icon Matthew Slater has slammed the portrayal of ex-head coach Bill Belichick in The Dynasty, a docuseries on the Tom Brady era in Foxboro.
The freshly retired NFL wide receiver joined many other Patriots alumni in criticizing the Apple TV show.
New England Patriots icon Matthew Slater has slammed The Dynasty, a docuseries on the Pats’ success in the early 2000s and 2010sCredit: Getty
Slater pointed to the overly negative portrayal of ex-Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as the main reason behind his feelings toward the showCredit: Getty
The Dynasty premiered on February 16 and told the story of the two decades at the start of the second millennium that brought six Super Bowl titles to New England.
Slater, 38, was interviewed by the 10-episode show’s producers alongside other members of the fabled era, including Brady, Belichick, Devin McCourty, and Rodney Harrison.
But having seen the final product, the 10-time Pro Bowler told The Boston Globe he “wasn’t a big fan” of the mostly negative narrative dominating the series.
“I understand that when people set out to create these projects, the directors and writers, they have to do things that are going to engage an audience,” the retired Pats wideout said.
“It’s unfortunate, though, that they chose to do it in the way that they did.”
Slater emphasized the unfavorable picture of Belichick painted in The Dynasty as particularly problematic.
Despite leading the Patriots to all of their championships during his 24-year tenure, the series focused heavily on the legendary NFL head coach’s ruthlessness and conflicts with his players.
“I felt like it was very slanted, and I didn’t like the way that Bill [Belichick] was portrayed,” Slater said.
“I didn’t like the way I came across because I certainly feel very fondly in terms of my relationship with Bill and my experience with him.
“But I tell people this: Having a relationship with someone, for the most part, the good ones — 98-99% of them — will have nothing but positive things to say.
“There are going to be 1-2% of the time where maybe you didn’t see things eye to eye all the time, and maybe you would have done things differently.
“I felt like they focused on that 1 or 2 percent, and that was disappointing.
“In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t have participated in the project if I had known it was going to come out the way that it did.”
Slater added he’s been told by a lot of Patriots fans that they were also disappointed in the way The Dynasty looked at the team’s story, including Belichick’s portrayal.
His feelings echo those of McCourty and Harrison, who criticized the show in a conversation on NBC Sports a few weeks ago.
“I felt like I got kind of duped,” the former said.
“I watched and I was just like, man, only things I said that could come across as negative to Bill was the only thing [used].
“Like, I mean, I had different kind of quick sentences on things, but the longest thing I talked about was 2016 with Trump and the letter [sent by Belichick in support of Trump’s presidential run].
“And I thought that was probably the worst part — that everything that we all gave to the 20 years that it encompassed, they only hit anything that was negative.”
Meanwhile, Harrison said The Dynasty seemed overly centered on Brady, Belichick, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
“I didn’t enjoy it. I stopped. Because it didn’t tell the stories,” the ex-NFL safety said.
“It was centered around some things that I wasn’t really feeling.
“And I just stopped watching. I mean, I interviewed for five or six hours I was in New York, and all they had me saying was, ‘F**k ’em all. F**k ’em all.’”
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