BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Danny Amendola has a constant reminder of failure in his Providence home. Hanging on a wall is a framed Philadelphia Eagles jersey with his name and the No. 11 on it. It’s there for him to see every day.
The 32-year-old wide receiver long ago proved his worth in the NFL. There was a time, however, when people and teams didn’t believe in The Woodlands, Texas, native. One of those teams happens to be the Patriots' Super Bowl LII opponent.
At Christmas, Amendola tweeted a photo of him in his house standing next to the framed jersey, which a friend gave him. (He also has a poster of John Lennon near it.)
“It's in my pool room — hanging as daily motivation," Amendola said. "I've come a long way since getting the opportunity to play there. It obviously didn't work out, so I guess I take it as a learning experience and just realize how far I've come.”
An undrafted free agent in 2008, Amendola’s NFL journey started in Dallas. He spent that season on the Cowboys practice squad before being cut. He then signed with the Eagles in January 2009. After being with the team throughout the spring and summer, he was cut at the end of training camp only to be signed to the Eagles practice squad.
The St. Louis Rams ended up signing Amendola off the Eagles' practice squad on Sept. 22, 2009. The receiver would never be on a practice squad again. Being cut for the second year in a row, however, stayed with Amendola. It’s part of what fuels him.
“I understood what I wanted to do,” Amendola said. “Kept the dream alive and just kept working.”
As evident by the Rams signing him that season, plenty of people saw something in Amendola. That included his Eagles teammates. It didn’t work out for Amendola in Philadelphia for multiple reasons — scheme and depth were two of the biggest.
That 2009 Eagles team had DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant, Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis and Hank Baskett at receiver. Avant was in his fourth season in Philly and knew Amendola had a bright future. He also knew it wasn't going to be with the Eagles.
“We knew that Danny had the skills to play in this league,” Avant said. “He was always happy, always wanted to learn. He would always pick my brain because we played the same position and I was basically in front of him. But we knew that it would be hard to make the team because our team didn’t run the style of offense for a slot receiver like with Danny’s skill set. … We knew that he would play in this league for a while.”
That year, Philadelphia ran the West Coast offense and the coaching staff valued bigger receivers — like Avant (6-foot, 210 pounds). He said that playbook rarely had option routes. Avant felt Amendola would be better in a system that allowed receivers to make plays with their feet and run option routes — which is exactly what the Patriots do.
During that offseason, Amendola picked Avant’s brain about the NFL. The young receiver left an impression.
“It is refreshing when a guy comes in and says, ‘What can I do to stay around in this league?’ ” Avant said. “Those are the questions Danny asked — ‘What can I do?’ I said, ‘Do this, but don’t do that because only this person can do it this way because of size, but this is the way we have to get open. I have to get open with strength. You’re going to have to get open with quickness.’ Just telling him to play to his strengths and things like that.”
Added Amendola: “Jason was such a strong player. He was a professional since the day I met him. He knew how to approach each day, each practice. I learned a lot — how to practice. He practiced so hard.”
In the end, Amendola used that offseason with the Eagles as fuel to push him in his career. Now in his ninth season, Amendola has little to prove, but that’s not how he looks at it. He uses that Eagles jersey in his house as a reason to keep on pushing.
Which is what he'll be doing in Super Bowl LII on Sunday.
“The nature of the business mixed with a chip that’s on my shoulder,” Amendola said. “People don’t forget.”