Darius Slay remembers almost everything about his first NFL game.
How he started against the Minnesota Vikings. How he got benched in the fourth quarter after giving up a long touchdown pass. How he faceplanted on his first ever defensive snap when Adrian Peterson left him eating turf on the way to the end zone.
“That first game was crazy,” Slay said Monday at Super Bowl 59 opening night. “My first game ever going against one of the greatest running backs ever, Adrian Peterson. My first play was him breaking my ankles and going 80 and then I got benched.
"So yeah, I remember that game. I could never forget that game.”
Twelve years older and exponentially wiser, Slay will make his second career Super Bowl appearance Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl 57.
At 34 years old, Slay is on the backside of a long, illustrious career.
He’s made six Pro Bowls in 12 NFL seasons. He ranks seventh among active players with 28 career interceptions. He’s nothing like the rookie the Vikings picked on that September day in 2013 and yet very much appreciative of that game and the rest of his seven seasons with the Detroit Lions.
“I got nothing but love for Detroit,” Slay said. “The Lions, man, for sure. That's the team that took a chance on me, a kid from Brunswick, Ga. So it’s always nothing but love.
"I root for them every time. I want them to win every game besides the game I'm playing against them in. But yeah man, that's home. That's my second home for sure.”
A second-round pick out of Mississippi State in 2013, Slay blossomed from wide-eyed rookie to one of the best cover corners in the NFL during his time in Detroit.
He struggled significantly as a rookie, but was a full-time starter in Year 2 and led the league with eight interceptions in 2017.
“I had some great leaders that kind of helped me out,” Slay said. “I had some great coaches, man, Jim Caldwell took his time with me, been patient with me. I had some great mentors on the offensive side with Calvin Johnson, working with him.
"Once I was able to knock a ball or two down from Calvin, I feel like nobody could get open on me cause Calvin to me is arguably the greatest receiver ever. So once I did that a couple times, I was like, ‘Yeah, nobody can't catch on me.’”
A fan and locker-room favorite in Detroit, Slay's March 2020 trade to the Eagles remains a symbol of the dysfunction from the Matt Patricia era. He said he thought he could win a Super Bowl with the Lions and hoped to play his entire career for the organization before "the business side took a part."
In Philadelphia, Slay has experienced more highs than lows, making three Pro Bowls and helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl with the league’s best pass defense in 2022, though he nearly was forced out of town after that game in a salary cap purge.
After the Eagles lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57, Slay was granted permission to seek a trade before the start of free agency then nearly released before reaching agreement on a new contract.
This year, he’s started 14 games, limited opposing quarterbacks to a 54.7% completion percentage on balls thrown his direction, according to Pro Football Reference, and done it all while serving as a veteran mentor in Philadelphia’s young secondary.
The Eagles have two of the five finalists for Defensive Rookie of the Year in cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and a third-year safety in Reed Blankenship who’s played a key role at defensive back.
They led the NFL in pass defense in the regular season (174.2 ypg allowed) after ranking 31st last year (252.7 ypg).
“I'm thankful for this organization still believing in me,” Slay said. “Took a chance on me, too, as well. Just come over there to change the back end of the DB room and I think I did that. I think I brought the Philly secondary back, in a way. Not saying that (it doesn’t) take everybody. I ain't saying I'm just one person that did it. I was just the missing piece that (helped the) Philly secondary get back to what it was.”
The secondary, of course, will have a big challenge Sunday against a Chiefs offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in points scored and passing yards but has a quarterback in Patrick Mahomes who already is considered one of the greatest of all-time.
Mahomes threw three touchdown passes and led the game-winning 12-play field-goal drive in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Eagles two years ago.
Slay said Sunday’s rematch isn't about revenge for the Eagles' revamped defense – Slay, pass rusher Josh Sweat, backup defensive back Avonte Maddox and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, after a one-year stint with the Lions, are the only Eagles defensive starters still on the roster from that game – but about proving its worth on the biggest stage in football.
For Slay, getting a second chance to win a ring is the cherry on top of a career that's already exceeded his wildest expectations.
He told NBC Sports Philadelphia last month he likely will play one more NFL season before retiring, though his contract probably means that will be elsewhere next year. And whatever the future holds, he's grateful to have experienced the ride.
“I’m in the Super Bowl," he said. "Ain’t too many people been to the Super Bowl. I’m thankful that I’m here."
