Daniel James Amendola (/ˌæmənˈdoʊlə/ ah-mən-DOH-lə; born November 2, 1985) is an American former professional football wide receiver.

He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2008.

Tech was trailing and on fourth down, a Cody Hodges pass attempt was tipped, and Amendola made a leaping catch in traffic.

The drive was kept alive and resulted in yet another disputed call—Taurean Henderson's stretch over the goal line on the final play of regulation, which gave the Red Raiders the victory over the Sooners.

[7][8] Another game-changing play came when Amendola recovered the fumble from an intercepted pass during the final drive of the 2005 game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

[9] Tech retained possession, resulting in a game-winning touchdown pass from Hodges to Joel Filani on fourth down with under 30 seconds remaining.

[12] Amendola majored in Communication Studies while at Texas Tech, but left early to train for the NFL Combine.

[13] Amendola drew numerous comparisons to former Texas Tech receiver Wes Welker, whose NFL career included stints with the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots, and the Denver Broncos,[16][17] as the two have similar builds (Welker is 5'9", 185 lb, while Amendola is 5'11", 183 lb), and played the same positions at Texas Tech (slot receiver and punt returner).

The Rams signed Amendola after hiring former Philadelphia Eagles' quarterbacks coach Pat Shurmur to be their offensive coordinator.

[30] On October 4, 2012, Amendola suffered a dislocated clavicle in the second quarter of the game versus the Arizona Cardinals.

Rams' medical staff called around the league for information, but no teams reported ever having a player suffer a similar injury.

Due to the unusual nature of the injury the Rams were not certain when Amendola would return,[32] but he was able to recover after just three weeks and recorded 11 catches for 102 yards in a hard-fought tie with the San Francisco 49ers.

[34] Amendola joined Mark Chapman and Mike Carlson for the BBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012.

[38] Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty, citing Amendola, made a similar pledge ($100 per tackle, and $200 per interception).

[41] Despite high expectations for the 2013 season, Amendola finished the year with 54 catches for 633 yards and two touchdowns, second to Julian Edelman.

[46] On September 27, 2015, in a Week 3 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Amendola caught Tom Brady's 400th career touchdown pass.

[47] On November 15, 2015, Amendola returned a kickoff 82 yards, and would have had a touchdown if he hadn't been tripped by his own teammate, Duron Harmon, on the 6-yard line.

[50] On January 22, 2016, Amendola was fined $23,152 by the NFL for an illegal block on Kansas City Chiefs punt returner Jamell Fleming during the AFC Divisional Round.

[51] In Week 2, Amendola caught four passes for 48 yards and a career-high two touchdowns from Jimmy Garoppolo in a 31–24 win over the Miami Dolphins.

[52] In Week 13 against his former team, the St. Louis Rams, he suffered a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for the rest of the regular season, but he returned for the playoffs.

[54] Amendola scored the Patriots' first touchdown of the fourth quarter to narrow what had been a 25-point Falcons lead down to 28–18 and a two-point conversion with less than a minute to go to tie the game at 28–28.

[58] Amendola started the 2017 season with a solid performance in a 42–27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football.

After the Dekaney Wildcats won the 5A Division II Texas state football championship in December 2011 at Cowboys Stadium, an unmanned cart struck Amendola and a crowd of people.

The elder Amendola sued the stadium for more than $1 million, alleging that negligent employees put objects on the floor of the cart that lodged under the gas pedal, causing it to accelerate out of control.

[92] In 2017 Amendola appeared, shortly after Super Bowl LI, at New York Fashion Week as a model for Philipp Plein.

[96] In September 2024 Amendola was announced as a competitor on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars, competing with pro dancer Witney Carson.