Danny Amendola – One Of The Biggest Names In The NFL
Danny Amendola is arguably one of the biggest names in the NFL who has also played for some of the biggest teams in the league. Interestingly, not many are aware that the wide receiver who sometimes doubles as a punt returner actually began his NFL career as an undrafted agent with the Dallas Cowboys; he would later play for the St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots and now the Miami Dolphins He is among the New England Patriots team that won Super Bowls XLIX and LI.
Danny was born in Woodlands, Texas, on the 2nd day of November 1985 to Wille and Ros Amendola. At birth, he was named Daniel James Amendola. His father is half-Italian and his mom half-Irish, thus, he has a mixed ethnicity. Amendola is not the only child of his parents, he has an elder brother named Matt Amendola who also played college football at Baylor University. And for Danny, he began his football career under coach Weldon Willig at The Woodlands High School, The Woodlands, Texas. He led his team to their first-ever state championship game. He ended his senior season with a total of 8 touchdowns with 129 rushing yards and 1,045 receiving yards.
After high school, he attended Texas Tech University where he played college football. He didn't make many appearances on the defensive line as a freshman but excelled as the team's punt returner. At the end of his first season with the team, he was named All-Big 12 first team as punt return specialist. His senior season was one of his best seasons, he recorded six touchdowns, one hundred and nine (109) catches for 1,245 yards. At the end of his college career, he made a total of two hundred and four (204) receptions for 2,246 yards and fifteen touchdowns. As a punt returner, he recorded one hundred and sixteen (116) punts for 1,283 yards and 1 touchdown, which gave him an average of 11.06 yards per return and earned him the third all-time punt returns in school history, behind Tyrone Thurman and Wes Welker.
Amendola began his NFL carer in 2008 with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent, but in August of the same year, he was re-signed to the team's practice squad where he spent the entire regular season and was never appeared on the team's regular season matches. When his contract with the Cowboys expired, the Philadelphia Eagles signed him on their practice squad. A few weeks later, he was re-signed to a future contract. In September, he was waived and would later be resigned to the practice squad. Danny Amendola later signed with the St. Louis Rams with whom he made his first NFL regular season. During this season, he recorded 1 touchdown as a slot receiver and caught forty-three passes for three hundred and twenty-six yards. He also returned a total of sixty-six kickoffs for 1,618 yards and thirty-one punts for three hundred and sixty yards. The following year (2010) he played just 6 games and with 2,364 yards which included six hundred and eighty-nine yards on eighty-five receptions, eighty-one on seven rushing attempts, 1,142 yards on fifty kickoff returns, and four hundred and fifty-two yards on forty punt returns, he led the NFL in all-purpose yards.
In 2012, he suffered a dislocated clavicle in a game against the Arizona Cardinals, the injury was so bad that it could have killed. He had to be anaesthetized in order to fix the clavicle back into place. As a result of the severeness of the injury, the team officials were not sure if he would return but he did recover faster than expected and returned to the team. He ended that season which happened to be his last with the franchise with a total of eight hundred and four yards. In March 2013, Amendola signed a 5-year deal with the New England Patriots worth $28.5 million, with $10 million as guaranteed money. He spent five seasons with the team and during these five years, Danny Amendola won two Super Bowls ( XLIX and LI) with the team. He also named MVP of the American Football Conference Championship game in 2017.
In 2018, Danny signed a 2 year deal with the Miami Dolphins. His Salary The Miami Dolphins WR is currently worth $26.79 m which is earnings from his eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). His base salary as of 2018 is $2,950,000. In 2017, he signed a deal with Ford Models to be represented by the agency, making him the first NFL player to be signed by the agency.
