Danny Amendola Stories

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2:05However, the madness unfolds. These deals keep going all month long. Visit the game day hub on Uber Eats for all the latest deals and start saving today. You know, I've always said Boston isn't just a sports town. It's an identity. And now Sam Adams went ahead and made that identity drinkable. They just dropped a brand new limited edition. Our city, our beer variety pack. Four beers for four Boston sports legends. You've got Derek Whiteale for basketball. Crochet's Pale Ale for baseball. My very own Julian Edelbrow logger for football and big Zs Pilsner for hockey. It's available for a limited time in New England. 12 packs of 12 ounce cans at select stores. Find Sam Adams, our city, our beer variety pack near you at Samuel Adams.com.

3:12Slash, find a Sam that Samuel Adams.com slash find a Sam. Welcome to Games with Names. I'm Julian Edelman and we got a brand new compilation highlight real starting now. Now Danny Amindola talks Texas football stadiums rivalries and his hilarious fake ID story. You went to high school in Texas, the woodlands? Yep. Shout out. You played in Texas stadium in high school? Yes, sir. Didn't you play in the Astro dome in high school too? Yes, sir. Jesus Christ. And the Alamo dome. Oh, yeah, just getting dome all over Texas so much Texas dome. The trifecta. Now give us give us one cool thing of each of those stadiums. I mean, Texas, there's nothing like the old school Texas stadium. You see highlights at MS Smith, Troy Aitman, you know, Deon back in the day, making plays there. They hung a couple of banners up in there too. So the tradition in Texas stadium, it's a mecca for high school football championship games.

4:14A bunch of bowl games used to come through there. And you could you walk into that stadium and you could feel the tradition. You know, it wasn't the prettiest site, but you know, that, you know, there's been great football played there. And they set an old Texas, you know, folk tale is that they cut a hole in the roof so God could watch. And. Marcus team. Marcus team. So so it was it was really kind of it was it was the mecca for for high school sports. I played I played a three overtime game versus Tyler Lee in that stadium. What year is this? This was 2003. 2003. This is your senior year. It was actually the 2004. I think it was it might. Yeah, it was one of those two years. It ended up all your stuff. Yeah, I know it was end of the 2003 right before I graduated in 2004, but it was the 2003 year of the season. Is this state championship? It was a playoff game to go to this. It was a semi finals. So we're playing playoff games in Texas stadium. Yeah, yeah, a lot of great athletes play there. I mean, anybody that's ever played in a big high school football game in Texas

5:17has has played in front of 40, 50,000 people at Texas stadium. And we didn't play our state championship game there. We played it rice, but it was it was, you know, these big stadiums get packed, dude. My my I played in the state championship my senior year. It was an all Houston final in Houston. And we had 50,000 people there. And it was the first time I really felt what a big game was was was really supposed to feel like, wow, that's it. I mean, Friday night lights is real. Yeah. Now, what do you remember about the Alamo Dome? Where is the Alamo Dome? The Alamo Dome is in San Antonio. You see the Alamo Dome in bowl games. You see it in a lot of college basketball finals. I've played the final four. They just played the final four there a couple of weeks ago. It's kind of a basic stadium, but the city of San Antonio fully supports and it comes out to any any high school football college football game there, any basketball event there. And it's a staple in in Texas as a as a premier bowl spot

6:17and in high school game. We opened up they have the Texas football classic there every year. You open up you open up the season first game of the year there. We did that one year and we got the opportunity to play on TV in the state of Texas at the Alamo Dome. And again, another opportunity to kind of get your name out there. Show your show, you know, the world to state what you can do and try to keep moving up the ranks. Such a Texan show the world. No one outside of Texas in 2003 watching that goddamn game. Okay, you do have everything about goddamn Texas. That's one thing Texas people do love Texas. Now, what's some of the Astro Dome? I played in the Astro Dome. My sophomore year versus Dunkinville is like it was my it was you know, a big game another opener of the season and you play these schools all around Texas that aren't in your district. You really have an opportunity to play against a lot of great football teams. It was old school turf to smell like old beer in there. You could I used to go to Astro's games all the time watch Craig Bigeo

7:18and Jeff Bagwell and you know, you walk in there and the brightness of the turf like immediately illuminates your eyes and then you just smell that old crusty beer in the seeds and it's like you're like this was this is what sports is supposed to smell like. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So you hit the trifecta that's so cool. Yeah, what's like growing up in Texas? You know, it's all about football. You know, my dad's a high school football coach in Texas. I actually played against him in the district. And so you went to a different high school than your dad's high school yeah, that he coached. Yeah, and you guys played him we played against each other. They were in our district. They're another really good really good team in our district. How's that go down? It's cool, man. We had a he was the defensive coordinator. Obviously I played receiver. So he's just W all game. One, yeah, no, we he beat us my sophomore year. Then we beat them my junior and senior year. But he was out on the numbers calling out the plays. They're going they're doing this. They're doing that. He's been watching our offense, you know, as I came through the ranks and my brother came through the ranks. So he knew every play that we were about to call.

8:18Why didn't you guys go to his high school? Because we lived I lived in my brother and I grew up in the woodlands. All our friends were there in the woodlands. That's where our house was. He traveled like 15 minutes south at the time to Westfield high school. And they were good, man. We went to the state finals of my senior year. And then the next year his team went to the state finals. We both ended up losing that game. But really good teams. So the talent was there. Now how's the dinner table after you dad beat you? It was it was it was quiet, man. You know, you you know, he humbled me early and and and got us. He had to get some good players. And then and then we we got on my junior and senior year. There's I have one great memory, though. We had a we had an interception that their DB ran down their sideline. I go to tackle him. I get blindsided blown up and into the into the sideline. And my dad catches me and then throws me back on the field. And I go back and I'm starting to run this Traderad and this guy down. But he scored on it. So it's just, you know, I remember every every game before he played each other.

9:20You know, he'd come up tell me he loved me and he's proud of me. And then he you know, we go about our business and have fun for the next three, four hours. And then it was a great it was it was awesome and great great memory. How bad did you want to beat him? I you know, I was begging him to put, you know, guys on me that I want I knew I could toast. I'm like, give me give me Bobby. Give me freaking give me, you know, whoever Billy. I don't care. I want I'm going to toast all of them. And then you know, he put their best player. I think I forget his name, but he and I'm going to play in college. And we had a battle, man. They were they had some some really good really good teams. So who are some good like some big name high schoolers in Texas around the time you played that play in the league? I remember I grew up watching Colt McCoy play Colt McCoy. Played in the play in the NFL for a long time. Chris Obanaya played in the NFL for a long time running back at Texas. Yeah, played out played for the I played with them in the Rams. He played in Cleveland for a while. You know, just a lot of guys that filter either through Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, TCU,

10:26Texas Tech, and UT, yeah, UT, yeah, that's UT, you know, they, they, you know, these teams got a lot of money now, the NIL, and they can pay to get the best players. Now, wait up, you grew up in Texas, you go to Texas Tech, did you want to go to UT? I wanted to go initially wanted to go to A&M. But I remember my dad came home when I was a sophomore. I started getting recruited and, and my dad said, you know, my dad had all this inside information because he was a high school football coach in the state. He knew all the recruiters knew all the coaches and they would tell him like, hey, we're not going to offer you Danny will, you know, and then some, so he came in and I wanted to go to A&M because he had Dante Hall went to A&M, hit my dad coach Dante in high school. Oh, sure. I grew up watching A&M going to, going to Aguiland College Station to watch them play a huge Aggie fan wanted to go there. And my dad came home one day. He's like, listen, A&M told me they're not going to offer you a scholarship. I'm too small. And they had already delegated certain amount of scholarships out to their guys.

11:27And they had commits, so I wasn't, I wasn't going to touch the field there. But he came home one night and he said, Texas Tech is going to offer you. And I knew their offense, Cliff Kingsbury, Wes Wilker, guys that, you know, Wes was catching 13, 15 balls of game. And, you know, similar, you know, size and stats. I'm like, Hey, I can do that. Let's, let's, let's go. So Tech offered me as a, as a sophomore. I committed as a junior and, and I committed to tech before I even took a visit. And now he's ready to do this day and age. So say like somehow Danny Amandolo is playing right now at Texas Tech, balls out his freshman year. Is he graduating at Texas Tech guy or is he going to get NIL somewhere else at A&M or UT? They say, Hey, here's the real money, kid. Yeah, you know, those minor leagues in Texas Tech. So I went to, I went to a two A school. Right, right. So you went to a triple A school. Right, yeah. I went to a two A school at Ken State. But, you know, we put up, we put up some powerhouses up there. Right, right. Would you have finished that Texas Tech?

12:28I mean, I'm loyal to Tech. I can't imagine going anywhere else. You know, I came from nothing though. Money wise, it's enticing when you got $2 million on the table, $3 million on the table. The decisions these kids have to make, thank God I didn't, I don't have to make them. So, um, but Texas Tech is my home. You know, I have all my, you know, great friends went there. A bunch of great coaches came through and, um, yeah, I'm loyal to the red and black. So your dad coach, Dante Hall, the human joystick. The human joystick has one of most elite punter turns. Probably the most elite punter turn that we all could just remember. Yeah. Do do do do do. Well, how was he in high school? He's dude, he was crazy. He played running back, actually. And they tried to get him the ball in every play. And, um, you know, I remember I was a ball boy when he was at Nimitz High School and he was uh, a senior there. And, and just getting to watch him go through Texas A&M, played running back there. They tried to get him the ball in every play, you know, and then he punted return and kick

13:28return in, in college as well. So, um, you know, dynamic player, you know, he's great hands, you know, obviously great body, control the transition from running back to receiver in the NFL was pretty easy for him. Although he, you know, he excelled in the special team's roles. He, he definitely contributed on, on offense too. So it was great to see him transform into a receiver. Oh, there you go. Shout out. Shout out, Hasbro. There it is. Shout out, Hasbro. In one sentence, can you describe football in Texas? Um, one sentence. One sentence. Uh, It takes a sense of education. Let's see it. Yeah, the town stops and, and the people go crazy. Painting picture Friday night at the woodlands, rival town, homecoming, rival teams there. Painless the picture of what the city in that your high school experience was. Cause I, I went to California. Yeah, a bunch of hippies out here and stuff like our football is really good.

14:28But we had 30,000 people coming to at least my school. There's some, yeah, that float around. But I want to hear the Texas woodlands, two A five A, whatever freaking A you guys are. Yeah. I mean, first off, they put so much work in the off season and, and, and, and into seven on seven. And, and into, you know, off season football and then they get into the season. And then you, you, you, the city shuts down. The, the town completely stops. Everyone comes out for your house. By varsity. Fred and I like to know I don't have a funny story. I'll share with you after this, but, um, we, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's all about the pride of the, of the city that you're from and, and representing that, you know, in the best way possible. And there's no better way to do that than, than football and on a Friday night. Then what's that funny story you had? So I was, so just to give you like a little, uh, run down on, on, on how popular, you know, sports in general, but, and, and football is in our, uh, community. We had a, we had a community newspaper, just like a lot of communities do, um, and I was,

15:33I was, I was 18 and I was, I had my brother's fake ID and I needed to go buy everybody beer, like on like a Saturday after the Friday night game. So I walk into the gas station. I got my brother's fake, I got my fake ID, which is my brother's ID. Shout out, Matt, thank you. And, and I go to put the beer on the, on the desk and I'm pulling up my ID. Yes, sir, here's my $22 cash crink, crinkled up $1 bills. And he goes, I can't sell you that. I'm like, why not? I'm like, what do you mean you can't sell me that I'm, I'm clearly 22 years old. And, and he goes, because you're on the front page of the, of the, um, he's the woodlands chronicle over here, scoring touchdowns in high school, buddy. Get out. So he didn't sell it to you. He did something to that, darn it. So it wasn't that popular. I don't, I don't know. It's not like we're, we're daisy confused. We're, the guy looks the other way. He's like, I was going to go have fun. Right. But that's so sick. So we, so far, we had to find a new way. Yeah, rocks. Is your mom going to your game or your dad's games?

16:33Oh, um, mine. Yeah. Mama Dola. Mama Dola represents. Next, Jules and Dola relived their touchdown connection in the 2014 AFC Divisional round. Walk us through the, the pass, beat by beat. Well, we got to start by the full season. I think we never, we practice it a couple, maybe three times, whether it be in a walkthrough. I thought we put it in like week two. We put it in like two, we actually ran it against. We had it called, uh, with an alert versus KC, right? Yeah, versus Kansas City on that Monday night game. And they gave us a man look. So we had to check out of it. Run a slant backside with a Jojo LaFell who took it to the house, actually. But because they gave us a man, look, we couldn't run it. So we got called off and then we didn't see it again. So I think we ran in a walkthrough and we missed it in the walkthrough. In the walkthrough missed it the night before the game. Yeah. So the coaches are freaking out. They're like, these, we're gonna scrap it. I'm like, we're good. These slappies can't complete a pass. And then, um, and then they called it in the game.

17:35And we got the right look. And then, um, end up working out, man. Remember this ball? Let me see. I remember, I remember the way it feels. Oh, yeah, that's nice. It's a little wobbly though. It was a, was it a, was it a complete spiral or no? It was a little one to get out there. A little wobbly. I thought I overthrown. Now I'm like, doing I get this and that's me, man. Hey, little Joker run, catches it. Little high step in the end zone. Tracked it down. That was, that was the loudest I've ever heard Foxboro. Well, we were down 14 points twice in that game. That was the second time. Yeah, I tied it up at 28. I tied it up at 28. They went up 14, zero. Then we went to 14, 14. Then they went up 28 to 14. You remember the lead up to this? Josh? No, I don't. Yeah, Josh just came up to me in the drive before he goes, I don't need to give you any lead time for, for the dough past, do I? I'm like, no, I'm good sitting there, shitting my pants. Fuck, I'm losing out there.

18:36Thinking about the walk through the night before. What were you thinking when you let that ball fly? I thought I overthrew you. No, I was good. I was, I was jogging too, but I don't know. Right and stride. Didn't even have to turn the jets on. I mean, I didn't, I didn't know, you know, when the guy's that wide open, he just got a fucking put it out there. Yeah. Grant was blocking for you. Yeah, Grant right after. Fucking gives me a big old bear hug. Yeah, the funniest thing is the next day in meetings, Julian walks in with an ice bag on his shoulder. Like he just pitched like nine and he's shut out. No, hitter. Got to protect through the bill and check through one thing. I gave it last too. Yeah, like, I gave it last. I'm like, oh, sorry, coach, I had to get ice bag for my arm. He grabbed a smile on that one. I think he was, it was fun. That was good. Where does the past rank among our favorite on field memories?

19:38It's up there, bro. I think it is. It's up there. We had a lot of good memories on the field, but I mean, there's just, there's five years of. But that was us incorporate that, like, we both got touchable on one play. Yeah, pretty tight. I got to touch down. You got to touch down. I think that you got to throw it. But, you know, didn't you, you had a couple of throws? A couple of throws, yeah. You mean, you have a touchdown pass? Yeah, I got it. I got two St. Louis. Two or three. I got two touchdown passes. They'll look at sling it. Now, Danny and Jules recount the biggest hits they ever took in the NFL. How many times do you think we fought? How many times will we fought at the Derby? We fought in Vegas. Didn't we fight on this Vegas trip? In the middle of the street. Remember, you fish hooked me? Yeah, you bit my, you bit my pinky. Yeah, you fish hooked me. How you got a fish? You got a bite. We were in the van. I remember the back of the van. We were in the back of the van and rallied out. Yeah. And then we got it.

20:39We hopped out of the van as like as if nothing happened and just walked into the. Yeah. But we, we literally were, we were fighting in the car. What sparks a fight between you guys? Anything. Anything. I don't know. We were just, we were riled up. Let's just say we had been drinking for a while. We'll be boys 18 straight hours. 18 straight hours. We get out. We start fighting. And we're like pushing each other. And then like the door opens. We're literally in the middle of the strip fighting. He gets me in a fish hook with my, with my pinky. And he bites my pinky. I almost bit it off. He was bit it off. I had to almost bite, bit that thing off. Then we fought on it like with the sunset. Oh, it's the most beautiful fight I've ever done. It was so beautiful. We'll have to get the picture of that. That's a picture. I have a, I have a, I have a still frame of that. We are literally, I don't know why, why were we drinking that day? We're fighting that day. We were drinking because we were drinking. Yeah, that's when we were skateboarding around. We can't tell this.

21:40Can't tell that story. Can't tell this story. Bring it more to bring it more. Shout out, bring it more. We were pros. We were pro skateboarders. Responsible mountain dew. Yeah, we were telling people we were pro skateboard photographers. We're in town for the skate, for the X games. Yeah, the X games. But I don't even think the X games were in there. Yeah, that's they, they, they weren't asking too many questions. Next up, Jules and Dola talk about going all out during by weeks. The by weeks were always the best though. We maybe shoot down a New York City, grab a bite. Cocktail too. Do you have any stories in New York that you and I can talk about on national television? This is national podcasting. National podcasting. Ooh, we have, we've, we went down there a lot. I remember one time, it was in the off season and Julian and I went down there for like four days, ripped it. I had to go back for like rehab or something. And then Julian was supposed to come back with me and just never showed up to work for like another two weeks. He was, he was a week. He, he, he, he'd send me pictures of like

22:4210, 30 of the morning just drinking whiskey. I'm like, what, come back to. I just broke up with a girl. He's all broken. I'm like, get your ass back to work. I know he was out anyway. He, he was like, I was like, I lost my friend to New York. This is what they started calling me Gatsby. Kunubiti said, Gatsby, what are you coming up with? Gatsby, come back. Oh, my God. You're supposed to come back. Or what about the time when we stuffed 15 people into a six person elevator? Oh, my gosh. Yeah, we're on our way back to your spot. And uh, 15 people in an elevator in the elevator stops working. It, it breaks. People were in there like literally, like claustrophobic, like crying, like so mad. I still was on my shoulders trying to open the roof full, full FDI. Weight limit reached the fire department had to come and, uh, and open up the top and everybody climbed up the elevator and got out. And dola go, we're going to a random

23:44another unit. We go into another unit. Another apartment. It wasn't our apartment, right? They let us in there. Yeah. Dola goes right into the fridge grabs a beer. Fucking fire department. They're like, oh, he's fucking asshole. Damn it. Dola and Edelman. They're all jet fans and shit. They go, fuck, we should have just left them. Yeah. Oh, it's fireman Ed. Fireman Ed. New York's great. And the Met Gala was fun. I remember we were late to the Met Gala shocker. And, uh, like, you could only get in. If you're coming, you got to get in at like an 850. And if you're a 51, you're not coming. And it was like 849. And, uh, Julie, we were waiting in this line. And there's like a, there's like a long line of cones here. And it was like the lines like another 30 minutes. Like we're fucked. And Julian sticks his head out. You can see his beer. He's got his shades dipping his mouth. And then he goes to one of the police officers. Hey, buddy, you look like a fucking jet fan. The guy walks over to the suburban. He's like, you know what the fuck? No, I am a jet fan. But you guys, he moved the cones out of the way. You guys need to get up right up here.

24:45The guy moved, we cut 30 minutes worth of line. All because we're talking shit. It's the only cool jet fan in the world. I love it. Oh, the, the your police are always so cool. They're ballbusters. But they always, they're always like rad cool. Yeah, they show love. What about that Harvey Weinstein story at the Medgella? Oh, yeah. So we're pissing, we're in the, we're in the, we're in the bathroom at the, and I didn't know who he was. I neither. And, and so we kind of knew he was like, you know, a big New York guy like fucking loved. What do you like the jets of the giants? Giants, giants of giants. So we're pissing next to Harvey Weinstein. And, uh, and Jules is on one side. I'm on the other. And, and Harvey, Harvey's like, as long as I'm in Hollywood, you will never work and show business playing for the Patriots. And I'm like, and I go, I go, Harvey. As long as we're playing for the Patriots, the giants will never win the Super Bowl. Got his ass. Did you sneak a peek? I already had like a fucked up little dick. Not it's okay. I didn't, I didn't sneak a peek. One time I saw, uh, you're a bird watcher, Jack.

25:45You know, we got to wonder for those guys in the shower. National geographic bird watchers. I buy you watch your birds. I was at the, uh, found blue Miami. This was years ago. And, uh, I was pee in next to Alonzo Morning. My compliment in his Rolex. Thanks for listening. Remember to tune in every Tuesday for a brand new episode and every Sunday for another Games With The Ems Highlight. Preparation. It's the foundation of every great NFL performance. It's the early morning practice sessions, the late night workouts, and the run it one more time moments. NetApp, the NFL's official intelligent data infrastructure partner, takes the same methodical approach, ensuring 3.5 terabytes of game day data reaches over 380 million fans worldwide instantly. And securely with the right preparation.

26:48NetApp can help transfer your business and future proof it for the AI revolution. Visit netapp.com slash NFL today to see why true progress comes from harnessing data with purpose. You know, I've always said Boston isn't just a sports town. It's an identity. And now Sam Adams went ahead and made that identity drinkable. They just dropped a brand new limited edition. Our city, our beer variety pack four beers for four Boston sports legends. You got Derek Whiteale for basketball. Crochet's pale ale for baseball. My very own Julian Edelbrow logger for football and big Z's Pilsner for hockey. It's available for a limited time in New England. 12 packs of 12 ounce cans at select stores.

27:49Find Sam Adams, our city, our beer variety pack near you at Samuel Adams dot com slash find a Sam that Samuel Adams dot com slash find a Sam marches here and Uber Eats is delivering deals all month long. Every game day score big savings on all the delicious food you need to turn your couch into center court and fuel your fandom. Whether you're ordering in or hosting the whole crew, Uber Eats is serving up deals on wings, burgers, pizza from your favorite restaurants. Plus game day snacks from top stores bracket busted. Still holding strong Cinderella story or top seed however the madness unfolds. These deals keep going all month long. Visit the game day hub on Uber Eats for all the latest deals

28:50and start saving today. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage wasabi air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals. Wasabi driving innovation and data storage for up to 80% less than those other guys. Try free at wasabi dot com wasabi hot cloud storage proud partner of iHeartRadio podcast network.