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Bears' Matt Slauson not staying quiet on stuttering he's had since childhood

Eric Edholm
Bears' Matt Slauson not staying quiet on stuttering he's had since childhood

Centers have to be some of the most fluent communicators on the football field, which makes Matt Slauson's job all the more interesting and challenging.

The Chicago Bears offensive lineman, who could be the team's replacement going forward at center following Will Montgomery's season-ending injury, suffers from occasional stutters, writes Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs.

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Slauson isn't sure why, but the stutters he experiences in normal conversation somehow never seem to plague him on the field. The converted guard had to switch over to center after Montgomery suffered a broken leg against the Oakland Raiders in Week 4 and yet had no trouble keeping open lines of communication in the 22-20 Bears win.

"If you listen to people who stutter, when they sing it is absolute perfection," Slauson said. "Speech is so rhythmic, but when you accompany it with music, it repairs all of the broken parts of it for them. I guess the [stadium] crowd noise makes it all pure for me."

If Slauson is called on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, it will be loud — very loud. But because of this strange condition, Slauson should be just fine shouting out audibles over the din without trepidation.

It wasn't always this way. Slauson grew up in a small town in Oregon, by far the biggest kid in his class, and was openly ridiculed for his speech impediment.

"I wasn't even able to say my name," Slauson said. "It was rough."

Slauson somehow made it all the way to fifth grade without learning to read before a teacher realized what was happening. Then one day, Slauson watched football practice with a frield — seeing all the kids who picked on him for the way he talked — and had an epiphany: If I join the team, I can hit them. Without reproach!

Thus the seeds were planted for his football career.

"When I finally discovered football, that was my chance to unleash hell," he said. "Tyler Emmert, he was our quarterback. I don't know if he ever knew, but I hated him, and when I had a couple of opportunities to lay the wood to him, I did."

Slauson earned a scholarship to Nebraska, had a successful college experience and was a sixth-round pick of the New York Jets  in 2009. After four years starting with the Jets, he signed with the Bears as a free agent and has started every game he has been healthy for.

He also helps children facing some of the same challenges he had with with stuttering, making various speaking appearances and working with organizations such as Camp Our Time and SAY (Stuttering Association for the Young).

One of Slauson's biggest messages to the kids: Don't shy away from your challenges and don't consider it a problem. Embrace who you are.

"For kids, it's such a tough age because you feel like those struggles are all of life," he said. "You cannot see beyond that, and it wasn't until I left high school I realized, 'Hey, there's a lot more to life.' But at that time it was brutally hard, so when I get a chance to get together with kids, I say: 'Don't be scared of your speech. Embrace it. Don't try to hide it. Accept it. … That makes you special.'

"I've had a lot of speech therapists contact me and say, 'I can help you with your issue.' I tell them, 'I don't have an issue.'"

Whether it's on the field with the Bears or speaking to kids, Slauson's message is resonating.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!