Danny Amendola

Daniel James Amendola (born November 2, 1985) is an American former professional football wide receiver.

He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

As a freshman in 2004, Amendola saw limited duty on offense but was Tech's leading punt returner.

He was named to the All-Big 12 first-team as punt return specialist.

He also caught 13 passes during the season, including one touchdown pass during the 2004 game against the Baylor Bears.

During the 2005 season, Amendola made two memorable plays that led to Red Raider victories.

The first was late in the 2005 game against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Tech was trailing and on fourth down, a Cody Hodges pass attempt was tipped, and Amendola made a leaping catch in traffic.

He was tackled immediately and appeared to have been stopped just short of a first down.

However, the spot was reviewed by the replay officials and the final spot of the ball resulted in a first down.

The drive was kept alive and resulted in yet another disputed call—Taurean Henderson's stretch over the goal line on the final play of regulation, which gave the Red Raiders the victory over the Sooners.

Another game-changing play came when Amendola recovered the fumble from an intercepted pass during the final drive of the 2005 game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Tech needed a touchdown to win.

Tech quarterback Cody Hodges's pass was tipped and intercepted.

Instead of taking a knee to seal the victory, the Nebraska defender decided to run with the ball and had it stripped.

Amendola dove for the loose ball and recovered it.

Tech retained possession, resulting in a game-winning touchdown pass from Hodges to Joel Filani on fourth down with under 30 seconds remaining.

As a junior in 2006, Amendola had 48 receptions for 487 yards and five touchdowns.

As a senior in 2007, Amendola had 109 receptions for 1,245 yards and six touchdowns.

Amendola majored in Communication Studies while at Texas Tech, but left early to train for the NFL Combine.

Amendola drew numerous comparisons to former Texas Tech receiver Wes Welker, whose NFL career included stints with the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots, and the Denver Broncos, as the two have similar builds (Welker is 5'9", 185 lb, while Amendola is 5'11", 183 lb), and played the same positions at Texas Tech (slot receiver and punt returner).

He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2008.

Amendola signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys on April 27, 2008.

His attempt to make it to the NFL was featured on the HBO special Hard Knocks.

Amendola was cut by the Cowboys on August 30 and re-signed to the practice squad after clearing waivers.

He spent the entire 2008 regular season on the team's practice squad, and never saw regular season action.

After spending his entire rookie season on the Cowboys' practice squad, Amendola then spent part of the 2009 season on the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles before being signed by the St. Louis Rams.

With the Rams, he began his career as an active player over four seasons.

He then spent the next five seasons with the New England Patriots where he appeared in three Super Bowls, winning two.

He then had stints with the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, and Houston Texans over the final four seasons of his career.

He served as the assistant/returners coach for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023.

Amendola attended The Woodlands High School in The Woodlands, Texas, playing football under coach Weldon Willig.

He completed his high school career by leading his team to its first-ever Texas state championship game.

Although they lost the championship to North Shore High School, Amendola finished his senior season with 1,045 receiving yards, 129 rushing yards, and eight touchdowns.

A 3-star recruit, Amendola committed to Texas Tech over walk-on offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Michigan, and Texas A&M.

Amendola finished his college career at Texas Tech with 204 receptions for 2,246 yards and 15 touchdowns.

He also returned 116 punts for 1,283 yards and one touchdown, giving him an average of 11.06 yards per return, which ranks Amendola third all-time in school history in punt returns and yardage, behind only Wes Welker and Tyrone Thurman.

Amendola's best year was his senior year, when he recorded 109 catches for 1,245 yards and six touchdowns.

After his contract expired with the Cowboys, Amendola was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad on January 6, 2009.

Following the season, Amendola was re-signed to a future contract on January 19, 2009.