FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced that they have signed WR Danny Amendola (pronounced – ah-men-DOLE-UH) as an unrestricted free agent from St. Louis. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
"We are excited about Danny's addition to our team and we look forward to beginning work with him this spring and into the future," said head coach Bill Belichick.
Amendola, 27, is a veteran of four NFL seasons with the St. Louis Rams. The 5-foot-11, 188-pounder, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Dallas in 2008 out of Texas Tech. He spent the entire 2008 season on the Dallas practice squad before being signed to the Philadelphia practice squad for the playoffs. Amendola began the 2009 season on the Philadelphia practice squad before being signed to the St. Louis 53-man roster on Sept. 22, 2009. He led the NFL in kickoff returns (66), kickoff return yards (1,618) and total return yards (1,978) with the Rams that season. He led the NFL in all-purpose yards in 2010 with 2,364 yards with 689 receiving yards, 81 rushing yards, 452 punt return yards and 1,142 kickoff return yards.
Amendola has played in 42 NFL games with 17 starts and has accumulated 196 receptions for 1,726 yards and seven touchdowns, returned 89 punts for 934 yards and returned 188 kickoffs for 2,776 yards. His best statistical season was in 2010 when he caught 85 passes for 689 yards and three touchdowns. Last season, Amendola played in 11 games with eight starts and caught 63 passes for 666 yards and three touchdowns, returned 17 punts for 122 yards and returned two kickoffs for 16 yards.
