Ex-Patriots Star: 'Absolutely' Would Unretire For Tom Brady
A return to the NFL? Danny Amendola might be ready to say "amen"... on one condition.
The former New England Patriots receiver is the latest to latch himself to the idea of Tom Brady returning to Foxboro, as he admitted that he'd be open to a return, but only if the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback personally called upon him.
"Tom’s done a lot for me," Amendola said in an appearance on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd. "If he needs me, I’d always play for Tom.”
Amendola, appearing on the Fox Sports 1 program to promote his upcoming appearance on the upcoming Fox reality series "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test," spent five seasons of a nomadic NFL career with Brady's Patriots, serving as a receiver for two of his six northeastern football. His last NFL service came with the Houston Texans in 2021, ending a professional stretch that began in Dallas' training camp in 2008.
Like fellow former Brady target Rob Gronkowski before him, Amendola did not suggest that a return was imminent, remarking he was "happy not playing." A call from Brady, however, hypothetical as it may be, would certainly get him to change his mind.
“I got enough football. I played for 14 years in the NFL, and played a lot of football. My knees feel better on Monday this year, watching football from the couch. Of course, if Tom called, yeah, definitely I’d have to go back, if he summoned me out of retirement.”
Amendola scored 18 touchdowns from the arm of Brady during his time in New England, six of them coming in the postseason. He notably earned 348 yards during the Patriots' run to the Super Bowl in 2017 and hauled the equalizing two-point conversion in the championship comeback against the Atlanta Falcons the year prior.
The receiver's interview with Cowherd tackled several topics, including his late college coach from Texas Tech Mike Leach and his relationship with former Patriots quarterback and current San Francisco 49er Jimmy Garoppolo. Amendola also covered what it means to work in a Bill Belichick/Josh McDaniels offensive system before the modern Patriots (7-6) seek to improve their playoff case against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, Fox).
That game will be a battle between Belichick and McDaniels, the latter working through his first season at the helm of Sin City. Amendola took the time to comment on the comparison between McDaniels and the defensive-minded Matt Patricia, the de facto New England offensive coordinator and the receiver's head coach during his time in Detroit (2018-19).
"I think one thing that Josh McDaniels did for us that may be can't be replicated anywhere else is that Josh would tell you what to do and why you're doing it, whereas other organizations and other coaches ... tell you what to do," Amendola noted. "They say 'follow the indicated line on the page,' they don't tell you why. I learned so much from Josh McDaniels and Tom in that offense. It's hard to replicate."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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