Former Patriots receiver Danny Amendola recently announced his retirement, and while the 37-year-old insists he’s at peace with that decision, thankful for an improbable career that spanned 14 NFL seasons, he would entertain a comeback, under one condition—it would have to be with Tom Brady by his side.
“Absolutely,” said Amendola, giving an emphatic response when asked by Colin Cowherd if he’d come out of retirement to play with Brady. “Tom’s done a lot for me. If he needs me, I’d always play for Tom.”
Amendola acknowledges feeling better than he has in quite some time, a fact he attributes to no longer subjecting his body to the pain and rigors of an NFL season. Reflecting on his career, which began as an undrafted free agent in 2008, Amendola seems more than satisfied with what he accomplished in football, establishing himself as one of the great postseason performers of his era. But Amendola is also smart enough to know that when Brady calls, you better answer.
“I’m happy not playing. I got enough football. I played for 14 years in the NFL. Not playing football, my knees feel better on Monday this year watching football from the couch,” said the two-time Super Bowl champ. “Of course, if Tom called yeah, definitely, I’d have to go back if he summoned me out of retirement.”
It’s not as if Amendola has been George Costanza with his feet up on the couch this whole time, channel-surfing between handfuls of Doritos. The former Texas Tech Raider (where he played for the late Mike Leach) appears on Fox’s upcoming season of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, competing with other celebrities (NBA star Dwight Howard and Hall-of-Fame catcher Mike Piazza among them) in challenges centered around military training.
Though Amendola, to his credit, has stayed relatively active, his latter seasons were nothing to write home about (24-248-3 receiving line for Houston in 2021), suggesting his NFL tank is running dangerously close to empty. The other, arguably more pressing concern, is whether Brady wants to play another season, particularly with how this one has gone, watching his personal life unravel while looking like a shell of the player who finished runner-up in last year’s MVP voting.
“I started when I was 10 years old. I had 26 years of football in my life,” said Amendola. “It was a long journey and honestly, I’m very happy with how far I’ve come from being undrafted and getting to walk away on my own and play the game that I love. It was a dream come true.”
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