New England Patriots wide receiver Matt Slater. (AP)

One day before playing in the New England Patriots' historic, fifth Super Bowl win, 31-year-old wide receiver Matt Slater talked about his Christian faith, how sin separates people from an "eternal, perfect God," and how God provided a "backup plan" to sin: "His Son Jesus."

During a Feb. 4 press conference, Slater, who is married and has one child, said, “You have to understand who God is and who His Son is, and you have to understand what God says about your sin."

"From there you realize, ‘I am a sinful person,'" said Slater. "My sin has separated me from an eternal, perfect God. But there’s a backup plan to that: He sent His Son Jesus. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, is God, and He came here and he died on the cross for my sins, for your sins, for everybody’s sins, everybody who’s willing to accept that truth."

"If you’re able to put your trust in Him and confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that He is who He says He is, then from there you can initiate a relationship with Him," said Slater.

"But I also believe that repentance is a big part of that as well," said. "You have to turn from your own life of sin to try to model Christ’s life. I think that’s something we’ll never fully figure out on this side of glory, but it’s certainly a one day at a time process that I’ve been so blessed to be on for the last 25 or so years.”

Matt Slater is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Jackie Slater. Matt Slater played college ball at UCLA and was a fifth round draft pick up by the Patriots in 2008. He was honored with the Bart Starr Man of the Year Award in 2017.