Sachem North’s Slattery a Team Player

Sachem North senior Michael Slattery, a special needs student and a receiver on the Flaming Arrows varsity football, works to be a team player.

“I just keep watching and I do whatever the coaches tell me to do,” Slattery, of Nesconset, recently told Patch during an interview. “I’m on scout team and I do whatever they want me to do to make sure I can help my team.”

Slattery has a learning disorder, but he does not let that get in the way of being on the team.

“I don’t learn as fast as everyone else does, and that slows me down,” he said. “I have to look at it and then keep watching until I know what I’m doing.”

Slattery recently had his first career catch and fumble recovery during North's game against Lindenhurst in the regular season, which is a career highlight for him thus far.

“The ball comes right in my arms so I just fall on it, and it was amazing and so much fun,” Slattery said of the play.

Following the play, his mother, Laura Slattery, wrote up her son’s story and entered it into the NFL’s Together We Make Football - Your Story contest. Should Slattery win the contest, which is through a combination of reader votes and judging, he could have a short film produced by NFL Films about his story. Slattery’s story has received about 1,600 “likes” as of this writing. The story also lit up Sachem Patch, with readers sharing it nearly 300 times on Facebook.

Laura Slattery said that she has received calls from the parents of kids that her son used to play youth sports with who had read the story.

“Just getting the story out there is such a positive story for Sachem,” Laura Slattery told Patch. “To me it’s not a Michael story. It’s a Sachem story and the way this district and this community has embraced him and really come together.”

While the contest is exciting, Michael is staying focused on the next game and finishing the season with his team.

Sachem North’s next playoff game is Saturday afternoon at Connetquot High School, 190 Seventh St. in Bohemia, at 1 p.m.

Anyone can promote Slattery's story in the contest by clicking here and hitting the "Like This Story" button.

Related: Sachem Football Player's Story Might Become Short Film