Danny Amendola

Daniel James Amendola is a former NFL wide receiver who played in the league with several different teams before retiring in July 2022. Since April 2023, he has taken up the position of a coaching assistant and returners coach with the Las Vegas Raiders.

As a player in the league, Amendola has had somewhat of a topsy-turvy career as initially, it took him plenty of time to become successful. The most success that came his way was when he was a member of the New England Patriots team. In those five years at Foxborough, Amendola and the team went to three Super Bowls winning two of them.

Along with his receiver duties, Amendola was quite a good kickoff and punt returner as well having played in the position during his college years. As a returner, he was used much more at the start of his career while that aspect of his game saw reduced production in the latter stages.

Danny Amendola Personal Information

Danny Amendola Early Life

Danny Amendola was born on November 2, 1985, in The Woodlands, Texas. He went to The Woodlands High School and played football on the team. He was one of the driving forces on his team as they went to the Texas State championship game, for the very first time ever. He had an exciting senior year where he caught passes for 1,045 receiving yards and added 8 receiving touchdowns as well.

From 2004 till 2007 Amendola attended Texas Tech University where he played on the Red Raiders football team. The two-time Super Bowl Champion started showing his caliber not only as a receiver but more so as a punt returner. In fact, with 1,283 punt return yards, he finished his college career as the third-highest returner in Texas Tech’s history.

In his freshman year, Amendola did not receive much playing time as a receiver but was the leading punt returner for the team. He started getting more playing time in his sophomore and junior seasons and his numbers started going up. His most productive season came in his senior year of college when he put up 109 receptions for 1,245 receiving yards and 6 receiving touchdowns.

Danny Amendola Personal Life

The former Patriots receiver is a native of Texas having been born and brought up there. He spent the majority of his youth in the same state going to high school and college in Texas itself.

In an interview with US Weekly, he shared some fun facts about himself such as being nicknamed ‘Squeaky’ due to his voice which he had until middle school. His favorite color is black and he has six scars from his childhood to football surgeries.

He also mentioned that he is excellent at table tennis and can’t live without his Bose headphones and Ray Bans. Furthermore, his favorite travel destination is just any beach as he is not too fixated on locations.

Danny Amendola Family Background

Danny Amendola was born to parents Willie and Rose Amendola. He has an older brother named Matt Amendola. The family is from The Woodlands, Texas.

His father’s name is Alfred “Willie” Amendola and is a football head coach and an athletic director. He became quite famous in 2013 when he sued the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium for $1 million. He was involved in a golf cart accident at the Stadium while coaching his then-football team, Spring Dekaney, in 2011. While Amendola Sr. was giving a post-game interview he and others were run over by a golf cart on the stadium which carried him nearly 30 yards before he could jump off.

Danny Amendola’s mother Rose, like her husband, is from Boston. The couple later moved to Texas which is where Danny was born. She was the one who took her son to his first football game. She has been very supportive of his career and encouraged him to follow his passion from the get-go.

The former receiver also has an older brother named Matt who used to play football in his college days. Unfortunately for him he suffered several injuries which derailed his career and could not become a professional afterwards. Matt used to play as a free safety.

Danny Amendola Girlfriend

Danny Amendola has had quite a few relationships in the past but nothing has materialized into marriage as of yet. According to his dating history, Amendola was first with sportscaster and television personality Kay Adams for about a year between 2015-2016.

In 2016 he met Olivia Culpo and the pair have had quite a bit of history being together on and off until 2019. Apparently the duo first split in 2018 after Amendola signed with the Miami Dolphins and Culpo wasn’t interested in maintaining the long-distance relationship.

Amendola was spotted with Bianca Peters in 2018 even though Culpo wanted to get back together again. As it didn’t work out at the time due to Amendola’s link-up with Peters, they were again together for a few more months from the end of 2018 till April 2019. Since then the couple seems to have officially ended everything and have moved on in their respective lives.

Amendola was also spotted briefly with social media influencer Emily Tanner in 2019 but that seems to have been over very quickly.

His latest girlfriend in 2020 was singer Jean Watts with whom he seemed to have been in a steady relationship but there are rumors circulating that the couple has broken up in 2023. Jean along with being a singer also has a huge fan following on Instagram and is a makeup expert.

Danny Amendola Kids

Danny Amendola does not have any kids at present. There is a strong possibility that he is waiting for a stable relationship before settling down with kids. This, however, is just a speculation.

Danny Amendola Social Media

Amendola has a presence on social media sites but he doesn’t seem to be too active. He has 25.7K followers on his Instagram account and 395.1K on his X (Twitter) account. His social media handles are as below:

• dannyamendola - Instagram

• @DannyAmendola - X

Danny Amendola Draft

After finishing his college career in 2007, the current Raiders coaching assistant entered the 2008 NFL Draft. As his luck would have it though, he went undrafted and was only selected when the Dallas Cowboys approached him after the draft as an undrafted free agent.

Danny Amendola NFL Journey

Although the Cowboys selected Amendola as an undrafted free agent, they released him from the team and signed him to the practice squad. After spending his rookie year on the practice squad he was then signed by the Philadelphia Eagles where he once again didn’t get a chance to play in the regular season and remained on their practice squad.

Danny Amendola Teams

Dallas Cowboys (2008)

Amendola was limited to a practice squad member only.

Philadelphia Eagles (2009)

Amendola was limited to a practice squad member only.

St. Louis Rams (2009-2012)

The St. Louis Rams (now Los Angeles Rams) signed him from the Eagles’ practice squad where he would spend the next four seasons in the first team as a receiver and a kick/punt returner. He played a part in 42 regular season games in four years with the Rams but started only a few of them. He also missed almost the entire 2011 season after he injured his upper arm in the very first game of the season.

New England Patriots (2013-2017)

Although Amendola remained inconsistent over his five seasons in New England, he had a fairly good stint there. He showed much more production in the playoffs than during the regular season prompting his former teammate Rob Gronkowski to give him the nickname of ‘Danny Playoff’.

Amendola was a key factor in Super Bowl LI which is famous for the huge come from behind victory the Patriots pulled off against the Atlanta Falcons. He had a strong showing of 8 receptions for 78 yards in that game.

Eventually, he would go on to become a two-time Super Bowl Champion with the Patriots before moving on to the Miami Dolphins.

Miami Dolphins (2018)

Danny Amendola’s time in Miami was just for one year even though he had signed a two-year contract with them. Finishing the 2018 season with 575 receiving yards and just one receiving touchdown, he was let go before the start of the 2019 season.

Detroit Lions (2019-2020)

Amendola’s next team was the Detroit Lions with whom he signed 2 one-year deals. On the individual front, Amendola had two good years in Detroit considering his output throughout his career even though his numbers weren’t exceptionally high.

Houston Texans (2021)

In 2021, Amendola signed his last contract in the NFL with the Texans for one year. He played in just over fifty per cent of the regular season and was not a big factor in the games. On July 25, 2022, he retired from the game bringing an end to his career as a player.

Danny Amendola Net Worth

As per various sources, Danny Amendola’s net worth in 2023 is listed between $8 million and $15 million. However, it is difficult to confirm this especially since he has had a few high-paying contracts in the league during his time as a player. Anything closer to the $15 million mark looks to be more likely.

Danny Amendola Brand Ambassador

Going by his popular status as an NFL player and with good looks, Danny Amendola was signed by men’s grooming brands such as Gillette and Nivea Men as their brand ambassador. Moreover, he was also signed as the ambassador for Bridgestone.

Danny Amendola Investments

There is not much information regarding investments done by Danny Amendola. It seems that he has, however, invested some amount of money in a fitness startup called ‘Ladder’. It is a strength training app which basically performs the role of a fitness trainer.

Danny Amendola Achievements

As far as his career achievements are concerned, there isn’t much to talk about. He has the following achievements including the NFL and college football:

• Two time Super Bowl Champion - Super Bowls XLIX and LI.

• NFL kickoff return yards leader - 2009

• New England Patriots All-2010s Team

• Second-team All-Big 12 - 2007

Danny Amendola Super Bowl Wins

Throughout his thirteen-year NFL career, Amendola only went to the playoffs on five occasions and all five were with the Patriots. He and the team reached three Super Bowls in that time winning two of them.

He first won a ring in Super Bowl XLIX when the Patriots took on the Seattle Seahawks at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The game was tied at 14 at the half before the Patriots came from behind to win it 28-24. Amendola on his part had 5 receptions for 48 yards and 1 receiving touchdown.

The former wide receiver then won his second ring in Super Bowl LI in the game that every NFL fan remembers to this day. The greatest comeback in the Super Bowl as the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 after being down 28-3 at one point in the third quarter. Amendola had a great game catching 8 passes for 78 yards and one receiving touchdown.

Danny Amendola Career Stats

Regular season

Postseason

Danny Amendola Contract

The details of Danny Amendola’s latest contract are unknown, but what is known is that he signed a $2.5 million deal with the Houston Texans in 2021 which was the last deal of his playing career.

His previous contract was the second one-year deal with the Detroit Lions which saw him pocket $5,000,000 including a $3,000,000 signing bonus, and a $4,500,000 guarantee.

Danny Amendola Diet

Now that the former NFL star is retired he has probably eased up on any diet he had followed during his career. While his exact diet is not revealed it is known that he did take a page out of Tom Brady’s book and tried to follow his methods of turning nearly vegan.

Apart from that though, his staple food before games was a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. The benefits of peanut butter are fourfold to the extent that it contains a lot of fiber and protein even if consumed in smaller quantities while keeping you full for a longer time. It has healthy fats which won’t make you gain weight if eaten moderately. It also has minerals like folate, magnesium, vitamin E and zinc which help the immune system to remain healthier.

As for Nutella, it helps to reduce cholesterol and keeps you feeling full longer. A high quantity of protein, iron, and calcium enables the strengthening of muscles, teeth, and bones.

Danny Amendola House

Danny Amendola’s main residence is his house in Austin, Texas which was covered by Architectural Digest (AD). His home is 4,768-square and sits on an acre of land along Red Bud Trail in West Lake Hills.

The house which is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom property is valued at around $3.2 million according to Realtor.com. For the interiors of the house, he wanted to replicate a modern but mid-century ranch which he once saw at a party and just fell in love with.

Danny Amendola Cars

No information about the cars owned by Danny Amendola could be found. However, he was involved with the Jaguar brand during his time in Miami and it's quite possible that he may have gotten a Jaguar at the time.