January 29, 2018
Last month, Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola tweeted out this photo of him standing next to a framed Eagles jersey — his jersey, actually, from 2009, when he was a member of the Eagles’ practice squad — which left people in Philly scratching their heads wondering when Amendola wore the green and white.
Who's who. #nfl #allwork #hellaBLESSED pic.twitter.com/KXQpQ92KCb
— Danny Amendola (@DannyAmendola) December 26, 2017
Well, he did and he didn’t.
Amendola went undrafted out of Texas Tech and signed with the Cowboys’ practice squad in 2008 before signing with the Eagles practice squad a year later. He spent the offseason and the preseason with the Birds, where he didn’t catch many passes, but did catch the eye of former Eagles QB coach Pat Shurmur.
When Amendola was cut by the Eagles, he followed Shurmur, who had become the Rams’ offensive coordinator, to St. Louis. And his career took off.
“I played in Philly for a cup of coffee, so to speak,” Amendola said Monday night from Super Bowl LII Opening Night. “I am thankful for my opportunity there but one of my best friends sent me my original practice jersey he found online on like a bid on eBay or something … so he framed it up and sent it to me and said, ‘this is a daily reminder of how far you’ve come and don’t forget … they cut you.’
“So it’s definitely a chip that I like to [keep] on my shoulder.”
Amendola caught 61 passes during the regular season for the Patriots this year and has stepped up production in the playoffs with 18 receptions for 196 yards and a pair of touchdowns in two games.
