Danny Amendola went through the Cowboys, Eagles and Rams before finding a home in New England. On Christmas, the Patriots receiver tweeted a photo of himself standing next to a framed Eagles jersey with his name on the back.
It’s the original practice jersey he wore during his short time with the Eagles.
“I only had one,” Amendola said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “They put your name on the back and everything, and I guess they were selling it for some reason. [A friend] bought it, sent it to me framed and said, ‘Hang this on your wall so you’ll never forget the day they cut you.’ I have it hanging. I’ll never forget that. I learned a lot there, but at the end of the day . . .”
Amendola signed with the Eagles’ practice squad January 7, 2009, with Philadelphia still in the postseason. He stayed with the team in the offseason and through the preseason before being cut. The Eagles re-signed him to the practice squad, where he lasted two weeks before the Rams signed him to their active roster.
“I was very low on the depth chart and learning, but I got some great tutelage from some really good coaches,” Amendola said of his days in Philadelphia. “There were a lot of good receivers there, too: Jason Avant, DeSean Jackson. Jeremy Maclin. Hank Baskett. Kevin Curtis was there; a guy I learned a lot from. I still carry those relationships on now with most of those guys.”
The jersey is a constant reminder of how far Amendola, 32, has come. He leads the Patriots with 18 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns in two postseason games.
“It took four years in St. Louis,” Amendola said of finally making it in the NFL. “I never felt like I knew what my NFL career was going to be. It’s always been head down and work your ass off, and that hasn’t really changed.”