Center Jake Slaughter is only the third center in program history to be named First Team All-American by the Associated Press. (Photo: Lorenzo Vasquez/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: An All-American Cheer for Gators Center Slaughter
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — These are troubled times for college football fans accustomed to getting to say hello and goodbye to their favorite players. In the eyes of many longtime devotees, the transfer portal has turned players into something akin to a tourist attraction in an Orlando strip mall: here today, gone tomorrow.
Gators enthusiasts experienced that harsh reality last week with the departure of fan-favorite Jack Pyburn, who is headed to LSU. They grumbled that if portal dollars can woo a player such as Pyburn – the edge rusher who grew up a Gators diehard with parents who graduated from UF – does the logo mean anything to anyone anymore?
Given that backdrop, we introduce you to center Jake Slaughter. Of course, Florida fans are familiar with Slaughter, but the rest of the country is starting to hear more about him. The Associated Press named him a First Team All-American on Monday, the most significant honor in a recent string of recognition for the 6-foot-5, 308-pound Slaughter.
Oddly, Slaughter was not a member of the three All-SEC teams the league's coaches voted on. That's fine, says Gators head coach Billy Napier.
"I think next year is where he'll really go off,'' Napier said Monday afternoon, shortly after the Gators arrived here for Friday's Gasparilla Bowl against Tulane. "Jake's gonna play this game for a long time, and he ain't worried about that, I can promise you that. But it has been good to be able to recognize him in front of his peers. And, you know, it's pretty cool to be an All-American. Not many of those, and he'll always be able to look back at that and be proud of it."
Slaughter met with a small group of reporters Monday at the team's hotel as the Gators settled into their rooms for a four-night stay. He broke news by casually announcing his plans to return for his fifth season of eligibility in 2025.
He never considered one of those trendy graphics as a mic drop.
"I didn't realize it was, like, a thing you do where you say if you're coming back or not,'' Slaughter said. "I was just going to show up in January. But yes, I'm coming back for my fifth year."
Center Jake Slaughter led the offensive line with a team-high 728 snaps during the regular season. (Photo: Jordan Perez/UAA Communications)
The Gators appreciate that Slaughter is as steady off the field as he is on it. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the top-ranked center in the country, surrendering just one sack in a team-high 728 snaps. Following school tradition, Slaughter will be honored with an All-American brick outside The Swamp after the season. He is only the third center in school history to earn AP First Team All-American honors, joining Bill Carr and Maurkice Pouncey.
He's come a long way since he was in elementary school and first started playing center at Wrigley Field Park in rural Marion County, not far from the small community of Sparr, where he grew up.
"Funny enough, I remember being, like, 6 or 7 years old and playing flag football and snapping the ball because we had some athletes on the team," Slaughter said. "I remember learning how to shotgun snap."
He reflected Monday on going from there to All-American.
"Man, it is really about as special as it gets," Slaughter said of the honor. "Being able to call the old man and tell him, 'I did it and accomplished a lifelong dream,' I'll be able to take my kids to the stadium one day, and we'll go look at the brick."
Slaughter signed with the Gators in 2021 out of Ocala's Trinity Catholic High, where his coach was former Gators quarterback John Brantley (1970s version). He is unassuming in everything he does, appreciative of the opportunity and committed to being a good teammate. When NIL started becoming a significant part of the college football landscape three years ago, Slaughter was thrilled to get a deal with a barbecue grill.
"Man, he's a great guy," Gators linebacker Shemar James said. "He's just a guy that everybody likes. If you don't like Jake Slaughter, you don't like nobody."
Slaughter was primarily a special-teams player in 2022 when the Gators last played in a bowl, a loss to Oregon State in 2022. He made his first career start in the 2023 opener at Utah for injured starter Kingsley Eguakun. Slaughter was targeted by fans upset over the loss.
If it bothered him, it never showed. With Eguakun battling various injuries during the season, Slaughter started eight games and stamped his place as part of the future under Napier.
"He's helped that (offensive line) room, and as a whole, that room is as healthy as it's been since we've been here," Napier said. "Not only the caliber of player, but just the culture in that room, and he's been at the center of that.
"Just a very consistent, dependable worker. A blue-collar guy. He has a way about him that inspires confidence to the players around him."
So, as players come and go via the revolving doors of the transfer portal, take a moment to appreciate a guy like Jake Slaughter. He is a Florida country boy who isn't afraid of the road less traveled or getting his hands dirty. He is willing to do the work and do whatever it takes to help the team.
In his world, if you do those things every day, you will be better for it.
"I feel like we have a lot of unfinished business,'' Slaughter said. "I love this place. I love being with my guys every day. It just seemed, all around, the right decision [to come back]. A special opportunity."
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