Q & A with Tab

Hey There!

I’ve got one of the most requested topics happening in this space. You guys requested some Q & A sessions with none other than my better half, my husband, Tab Slaughter. 😉

I asked for your questions via Instagram and seriously got so many that this will be a couple part series. I’m not really sure how many at the moment. To be honest, it all depends on how many questions Tab answers each time. We’ll see! But we have lots of great questions you sent me and he’ll be digging through them over the next month.

I had Tab answer these directly and I made his answers in italics.

Without further ado, here’s my hubby…

They all have their own charm but as a traditionalist, I prefer the outdoor stadium with a grass field. The sights, sounds and smells feel more like football. Granted, you might be freezing sometimes and drenched in others…or both, but that’s football.

Man, thats a really tough one. But if I could only pick one, it’s probably right before kickoff of the 2020 Rose Bowl, for a combination of reasons. First off, working the Rose Bowl is a bucket list accomplishment for any football official so there is an overwhelming sense of gratitude and honor for being afforded the opportunity to work the game. There are many very good officials who never got/get the chance to experience it so that part of it was big for me. Secondly, my family was there to experience it with me. The weather was unbelievable, the game ended up being decided by one point and the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains at sunset in the 4th quarter is a scene you could never forget (see pic attached). Lastly, as it turned out, that would be the last college football game I would work. I was hired by the NFL a couple of months later. That’s significant because the my dad worked the 1996 Rose Bowl. I was in 8th grade standing on the sideline (things were different back then) watching him work a game I would return with my family to work 24 years later. And, as it turned out back in 1996, that would also end up being my dad’s last game as a college football official. He was hired by the NFL a couple of months later. For all those reasons, that officiating memory will be a hard one to top.

There’s just simply not enough space in the internet stratosphere for me to list my favorite things about Erika! But, if I’m keeping it clean and cutting through the humor, it’s her love for God because that’s what drives everything else she does. Obviously I think she’s beautiful and I’m crazy about her in other ways but ultimately, that’s what attracts me the most about her and I know she’s loving and leading our kids the same way she loves and follows the Lord.

Favorite meal is tough and this has evolved some through the years. Growing up, my mom would make homemade chicken strips, white rice, brown gravy and brussel sprouts on my birthday because that was my favorite. I’m still a big fan but now it’s hard to beat a steak and a baked potato. Big time cheat meal is pizza and if calories didn’t matter and I only had one food to eat forever, it would probably be pizza or PB&J!

Just wrapped up a month long study leading up to Christmas and right now just started a plan on the Bible app. I use a lot of those because they are easy to find and easy to follow. When football season is over, I will start a more in-depth study but not sure which one yet.

Probably a lot of things I could list here that might be at least somewhat fascinating but one that sticks out is that from the end of July through the middle of January (depending on playoffs etc.), we don’t really have days off like most people do. With exception to two off weekends (sometimes you get called in on off weekends which is Erika’s favorite), we all have other jobs and work a normal work week, travel on Saturday for a Sunday game and either fly back late on Sunday night after the game or early on Monday. Work week starts back and the weeks begin to fly by very quickly. None of us would have it any other way (with exception to being away from our families more often than we’d like) so it’s not a complaint, it’s just something you have to learn to balance with family, regular vocation and being able to execute a high stress job on the weekends with little rest in some cases. Coaches and players have it no differently, so you just have to create a routine that works for you. For me, I wouldn’t be able to do it without my Team Slaughter (Erika) taking care of things while I’m away.

The other thing I will add here because I think it’s worth noting is that we (officials) are all fans of the game and our ultimate goal is to get it right, no matter what. The unfortunate reality in our business is that sometimes we are wrong, which can be harder to deal with than what you might imagine, but it’s part of the deal just like it is for players and coaches. As officials, we have a duty to the game to work as hard as we can through our preparation and performance on the field to “get the call right”. We all love the game and we know the game and all it’s stakeholders (including us) deserve for us to “get it right”, which is what motivates most of us to officiate in the first place.

I am the COO of a material handling equipment and solutions company based in Dallas. In a nutshell, we sell and service forklifts (primarily Caterpillar equipment, along with other lines) and design and install material handling solutions for warehouses such as conveyors and pallet racking for storage. We have 10 locations and roughy 415 employees across Texas and Oklahoma. My boss, our owner, calls this my side hustle :)…although sometimes I wonder if he’s really kidding! If I’m on a plane and I’m tired, when someone asks me what I do, I tell them I sell forklifts and it pretty much ends to conversation immediately.

Yes, many times. I worked many of his games at Texas Tech and have worked quite a few of his games in the NFL. Since I first interacted with him as a freshman at Texas Tech, he has always been a complete class act and obviously an incredible player on the field.

Don’t know yet. Very limited on what I can / should comment on here but generally officials are notified the Monday before each playoff game. As you can imagine, we are not allowed to openly share our assignments outside of immediate family but assigned crews can be found online the week of the games as the NFL released assignments.

Unfortunately, by contract, I am not allowed to share how the NFL assigns our games but I can tell you that I do not know my entire schedule in advance.

Pretty simple equation I use for all things financial. Make it, tithe it, save it, invest it, spend it. Before “spend it” would be pay off debt if you have any. Home improvements kind of fall into two categories here but if you do it right really mostly the invest it bucket. For us, God willing, we will be in this house until Britt finishes college so while it is a significant investment (and spend), we will get to live in the investment the way we want it for a long time and we have significantly increased the value of our home (asset) for down the road when/if we want to sell.

I don’t think you’re necessarily looking for financial advice here but since you asked I will make the point that while home improvements should be profitable down the road, you always have to be sensitive to the debit you have on your house. The house and the money you put into are an investment but it can obviously also be a big liability due to the amount of debt you have to service in interest over time on your mortgage. So, while you’re generally increasing the value of your home (provided your home is in the right area), it can be easy to forget the amount of interest you have paid over time. Getting back to your original question, the home renovation needs to come somewhere after you have considered paying your mortgage back faster than the bank would like for you to. Hope that helps.

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And that wraps up Tab’s time today! Like I said, I received a lot of questions! So Tab’s committed to working his way through those over the next few months to get as many questions answered as he can.

Thanks for reading today!

XO