Joey Slye shares story behind tattoo honoring late brother originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Washington’s newest placekicker Joey Slye already expects to have a lot of ticket requests for his debut against the Buccaneers this Sunday.
Slye, who went to high school in Northern Virginia and played his college football at Virginia Tech, signed with the Washington Football Team earlier this week after Chris Blewitt was released. A heavy contingent of family and friends are expected to be in the stands at FedEx Field in support of the 25-year-old kicker.
Family is a big part of Slye’s life, especially his relationship with his late brother, A.J. Slye has a large tattoo on his right shoulder depicting him and his brother joined at the hands on a football field.
“This is the last time me and my brother playing on the same field together, so this is a pretty important picture to me,” Slye told reporters Wednesday.
As #WashingtonFootball preps for the Bucs, we get to know the new kicker Joey Slye.
And as @JPFinlayNBCS reports, the North Stafford HS grad and former Hokie may make a living on his foot, but it’s a special tattoo on his arm that means the most to Slye. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/mh4LnDTG9J
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) November 11, 2021
Joey and A.J. spent two seasons as teammates at North Stafford High School in Virginia. During A.J.’s senior year (Joey’s sophomore season) in 2012, the team made it all the way to the state semifinal, only to lose on the final play. It’s the backdrop to Slye’s incredibly detailed tattoo.
Not long after, A.J. was diagnosed with leukemia. He died 14 months later in November of 2014.
“When he passed away, I was holding his hand. I was holding him in my right hand, so right-hand man, he’s on my right arm.”
Washington will be Slye’s third team so far this season. He spent the first three weeks of the year with Houston and then jumped over to San Francisco for three games before getting released once Robbie Gould returned from injury.
Through six games, Slye is 11-for-13 on his field goals and 9-for-12 on extra points. The longest kick he has this season is 56 yards, and he’s made both of his attempts beyond 50 yards this season.
Slye will be Washington’s third kicker this season after releasing Dustin Hopkins after Week 6 and Chris Blewitt after two games.
