Games with Names - Danny Amendola Stories

Episode Date: March 8, 2026

Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman talk Texas football, life, and their favorite stories their years together in New England. Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything, like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember, 988, Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada. I'm Clayton Eckerd. In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor.

But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one-night stand would end in a courtroom. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract.

Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ego Woda is your host for the 2020. 26 IHeart Podcast Awards, live at South by Southwest. Hello, is anybody there? Raised by a single mom,

Ego may have a few father-related issues. Are we supposed to talk about your dad? Her podcast, Thanks Dad, is full of funny, heartfelt conversations with actors, including fellow S&L alums, comedians, musicians, and more about life and their wonderfully complicated relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. Get to know Ego. Follow Thanks, Dad, with Ego Wodom, and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today.

Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sports most consequential driver's strike and plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent gumster fire

for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to games with names. I'm Julian Edelman, and we got a brand new compilation highlight reel starting now. Now, Danny Amandola 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 Astrodome in high school, too? Yes, sir. Jesus Christ. And the Alamo Dome, too. And the Alamo Dome.

Yep. Oh, just getting dome all over Texas. So much Texas dome. The trifecta. Now, 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 of Emmys Smith, Troy Aitman, you know, Dion back in the day, making plays. 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. A bunch of bowl games used to come through there. and 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 there's been great football played there and they

an old Texas you know folk tale is that they cut a hole in the roof so God could watch and America's team right America's team so so it was really kind of it was it was the mecca for high school sports I played a three overtime game

versus Tyler Lee in that stadium What year is this? This was 2003. This is your senior year? It was actually 2004. I think it was, yeah, one of those two years,

because football years suck. Yeah, 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 the, it was a semi-finals,

I believe. 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 has played in front of 40, 50,000 people at Texas Stadium. And we didn't play our state championship game there.

We played at Rice, but it was, you know, these big stadiums get packed, dude. I played in the state championship, my senior year. It was an all-Huston final in Houston, and we had 50,000 people there. And it was the first time I really felt what a big game was really supposed to feel like. Wow. That's what, 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. They just played the final four there a couple weeks ago. It's kind of a basic stadium, but the city of San Antonio fully supports and comes out to any high school football, college football game there, any basketball event there.

And it's a staple in Texas as a premier ball. bowl spot and high school game feel we opened up they have the Texas football classic there every year you open up uh 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 uh 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 the state what you can do and and try to keep moving up the ranks such a Texan show the world no ain't no one outside of Texas in 2003 watching that goddamn game Texas thing. Everything's about goddamn Texas.

That's one thing. Texas people do love Texas. Now, what's up with the Astrodome? I played in the Astrodome. My sophomore year versus Duncanville was 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, you smelled like old beer in there. I used to go to Astros games all the.

the time watch Craig Bigio and Jeff Bagwell and and you know you walk in there in the brightness of the turf like immediately illuminates your eyes and then you just smell that old crusty beer in the seats 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 um 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. So you went to a different high school than your dad's high school that he coached. 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 does that go down? It's cool, man. He was a defensive coordinator. Obviously, I played receiver. He just double you 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.

Why didn't you guys go to his high school? Because 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 in 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 your dad meets you? It was, it was, uh, it was, uh, it was, it was, quiet man you know you he humbled me early and and got us he had to get some good players and then and then we we got on my my junior and senior year there's i have one great memory though uh we had we had an interception that their db ran down their sideline i go to tackle them i get blindside and blown up and into the into the sideline my dad catches me and then throws me back on the

field and i go back and i'm starting to run this try to ride this guy down but he's scored on it um so it's just you know i remember every every game before he played each other you know he'd come up tell me he loved me and he's proud of me and then he you know we'd go about our business and have fun for the next three four hours and then it was a great up it was awesome man great great memory how bad did you want to beat him i'd you know i was begging him to put you know guys on me that i wanted 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 gonna toast all of them And then, you know, he put their best player.

I think, I forget it was named, but he ended up going to play in college. And we had a battle, man. They had some really good, really good teams. So who were some good, like some big name high schoolers in Texas around the time you played that play in the league? That you remember. I grew up watching Colt McCoy play. Colt McCoy. Played in the NFL for a long time.

Chris Obanaya played in the NFL for a long time running back at Texas. 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, Texas Tech, and UT. And UT, yeah, U.T. Yeah, that's UT. You know, they, you know, these teams got a lot of money now, the NIL, and they can pay it 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 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. He knew all the coaches.

And they would tell him like, hey, we're not going to offer you, Danny. Well, 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, my dad coached Dante in high school. Oh, shit. I grew up watching A&M going to, uh, going to Aggie Lane College Station to watch them play. 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 your scholarship. I'm too small. And they had already delegated certain amount of scholarships out to their guys all over there. And they had commits. So 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, West Walker, guys that, you know, West was catching 13, 15 balls a game. And, you know, similar size and stature. I'm like, hey, I can do that. Let's go. So tech offered me as a sophomore. I committed as a junior. And I committed to tech before I even took a visit.

No, in this day and age. Say like somehow Danny Amandola is playing right now at Texas Tech balls out his freshman year. Is he graduating a Texas Tech guy or is he going to get NIL somewhere else at A&M or UT? They say, hey, Here's a real money kid. Yeah. You know.

Get out of those minor leagues in Texas Tech. Because I went to, I went to a 2A school. Right, right. So you went to a AAA school. Right. Yeah. I went to a 2A school of Kent State. But, you know, we put up, we put up some powerhouses up there.

Yeah, right. Would you finish that Texas Tech? I 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 have 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 the most elite punt returns probably the most elite punt return that we all could just remember yeah do 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 punt return, kick return 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 excelled in the special team's roles, he definitely contributed 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? One sentence. One sentence. Texas Education.

Let's see it. Yeah. The town stops and the people go crazy. Paint the picture Friday night at the woodlands rival town, homecoming, rival teams there. Paint us the picture of what the city and that your high school experience was. Because I went to California. A bunch of hippies out here and stuff. Like our football is really good.

But we had 30,000 people coming to at least my school. There's some that float around. But I want to hear the Texas woodlands, 2A, 5A way. whatever freaking A you guys are. Yeah. I mean, first off, they put so much work in the offseason and into seven-on-seven and into, you know, off-season football.

And then they get into the season, and then the city shuts down. The town completely stops. Everybody comes out. Do you get a billboard in front of your house? Like varsity. No, I don't. I have a funny story I'll share with you after this,

but we, you know, it's all about the pride of the city that you're from. and representing that, you know, in the best way possible. And there's no better way to do that than football and on a Friday night. Then what's that funny story you had? So I was, just to give you like a little rundown on how popular, you know, sports in general, but in football is in our community. We had a, we have a community newspaper, just like a lot of communities do.

And I was, I was 18 and 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 ID, which is my brother's ID. Shout out, Matt, thank you. And I go to put the beer on the desk and I'm pulling up ID, yes sir. Here's my $22 cash 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 clearly 22 years old. And he goes, because you're on the front page of the, he's the Woodlands Chronicle over. We're here. Scoring touchdowns in high school, buddy. Get out.

So he didn't sell it to you. God darn it. It wasn't that popular. I know. It's not like where Daisy confused where the guy looks the other way. He's like, oh, boys, we go have fun. Right.

But just so sick. So we had to find a new way. That rocks. Does your mom go to your game or your dad's games? Oh, mine. Yeah. Mommodola. Momodola represents.

Next. Jules and Dola relived their touchdown connection in the 2014 AFC divisional round. Walk us through 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 week two. We actually ran it against, we had it called with an alert versus Casey.

Yeah, versus Kansas City on that Monday night game. and they gave us a man look, so we had to check out of it and run a slant backside with Jojo Lafelle 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 until I think we ran it 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,

we're going to scrap it. I'm like, we're good. These slapies can't complete a pass. And then they called it in the game and we got the right look. And then end up working out, man. Remember this ball? Let me see.

I remember the way it feels. Oh, yeah, that's nice. It's a little wobbly, though. Was it a complete spiral or? No. It was a little. I just wanted to get out there. Little wobbly.

I thought I overthrew him. Now, but like, dole ain't going to get this. He ain't got that speed. Hey, a little joker run, catches it, a little high step into the end zone. Tracked it down. That was the loudest I've ever heard Foxborough. 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 14-0. Then we went to 14-14. Then they went up 28 to 14. Yeah. 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 the double pass. Do I? I'm like, no, I'm good. Yeah. Sitting there shit in my pants. Fuck, one for this thing out there?

Yeah. Thinking about the walk. the night before. Yeah. 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, bud. I don't know. Right in stride. Didn't even have to turn the jets on. I mean, I didn't, I didn't, you know,

when the guy's that wide open, you just got to fucking put it out there. Yeah. Gronk was blocking for you. Yeah. Gronk right after fucking gives me a big old bear hug. Yeah. Drives me.

lifts me up. The, the funniest thing. thing is the next day in meetings, Julian walks in with an ice bag on his shoulder. Like, he just pitched like nine innings shut out, no hitter. Got to protect the routine. So you threw one pass. I gave it last too.

Yeah. Like, I came in last. I'm like, oh, I sorry, coach. I had to get ice bag for my arm. He's like, fuck you, man. You got to smile on that one. Yeah. He was a fun.

Yeah, that's good. Where does the pass rank among our favorite on-field memories. It'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, like, we both got touch a ball in one play. Yeah, pretty tight. I got a touchdown, you got a touchdown. I throw one you got. It's sicker that you got to throw it, but, you know.

And you, you had a couple throws? A couple throws, yeah. You may, you have a touchdown pass? I got, I got two, St. Louis? Two or three. I got two touchdown passes. Goal could 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're fish hooking me.

How do you get out of a fish hook? You got a bite. We were in the van. Remember the back of the van? In the back of the van and rallied out. Yeah. And then we got it. We hopped out of the van as like as if nothing happened, just walked into the room.

Yeah. We literally were, we're fighting in the car. What sparks a fight between you guys? Anything. I don't know. We were just, we were riled up. We,

let's just say, we had been drinking for probably, we'll be boys. Probably 18 straight hours. 18 straight hours. We get out. We start fighting when we're like pushing each other. And then like the door opens.

We're living. Literally in the middle of the strip fighting. He gets me in a fish hook. With my pinky. And he bites my pinky. I almost bit it off. He almost bit it off. I had to almost bit that thing off.

Then we fought on it like with the sunset. Oh, it was the most beautiful fight I've ever been. It was so beautiful. We'll have to get the picture of that. That sounds pictures. I have a still frame of that. We are literally, I don't know why. Why were we drinking that day or fighting that day?

Because we were drinking. Because we were drinking. Yeah. That's when we were skateboarding around. Oh, that's, yeah. We can't tell this. Can't tell that story. Can't tell that story.

Brick and mortar. Brick and mortar. Shout out, Brick and border. We were pros. We were pros skateboarders. We were sponsored by 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. They weren't asking too many questions. Next up, Jules and Dola talk about going all out during bye weeks. Bye weeks were always the best. We'd maybe shoot down in New York City, grab a bite. Cocktail, too.

Do you got any stories in New York that? That you and I can talk about on national television? This is national podcasting. National podcasting. Ooh, we went down there a lot. I remember one time it was in the off-season, and Julie 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, he'd send me pictures at like 10.30 of the morning

just drinking whiskey. I'm like, come back to, he's broke up with a girl. Come back. He's all heartbroken. I'm like, get your ass back to work.

I know, he was out anyway. He was like, I was like, I lost my friend to New York. That's what they started calling me Gatsby. Kudubiti

saying Gatsby when he's coming home. Come back. Oh my. you're supposed to come back. Or what about the time where we stuffed 15 people into a six-person elevator? Oh my gosh. Yeah, we're on our way

back to your spot. And 15 people in an elevator and the elevator stops working. It breaks. It got stuck. 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 FBI. Wait, Lynn have reached. The fire department had to come and open up the top and everybody climbed up the elevator and got out. Dola, we're going to a random, another unit. We go into another unit, another apartment. It wasn't our apartment, right? They let us in there.

Dola goes right into the fridge, grabs a beer. Fucking fire department. They're like, oh, these fucking assholes. Damn it, Dola and Edelman. They're all Jets fans and shit. They go, we should have just left them. Yeah. Thanks, fireman, Ed.

Yeah. New York's great, man. The Met Gala was fun. I remember we were late to the Met Gala, shocker. And, like, you could only get in. If you're coming, you got to get in at fucking 8.50. And if you're 8.51, you're not coming. And it was, like, 849.

And we were waiting in this line, and there's, like, a long line of cones here. And it was, like, the line's, like, another 30 minutes. Like, we're fucked. And Julian sticks his head out. You can see his beard. He's got his shade. He's dip in his mouth. And then he goes to one of the police officers.

Hey, buddy, you look like a fucking Jets fan. The guy walks over to the suburban. He's like, you know what the fuck? No, I am a Jets fan. But you guys, he moved the cones out of the way. You guys need to get up right up here. The guy moved. We cut 30 minutes worth of line all because we're talking shit.

The only cool Jets fan in the world. I love it. The New York police are always so cool. They're ball busters, but they're always like rad cool. Yeah. They show love. What about that Harvey Weinstein story at the Met Gala? 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 at the neither and and so we kind of knew he was like you know big New York guy like fucking loved what do you like the Jets of the Giants Giants the Giants so we're pissing right next to Harvey Weinstein and uh and Jules is on one side I'm on the other and in Harvey Harvey's like as long as as I'm in Hollywood you'll never work in 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 heard he had like a fucked up little dick. No, I didn't sneak a peek. One time I saw Alonzo. You know, birdwatcher, Jack? You know, you got a title for those guys in the shower. National Geographic Bird Watchers.

I buy. You watched your birds. I was at the Fountain Blune, Miami. This was years ago. And I was peeing next to Alonzo morning. I complimented his Rolex. Thanks for listening. Remember to tune in every Tuesday for a brand new episode

and every Sunday for another games with names highlight. I'm Clayton Eckerd in 2022. I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one-night stand would end in a courtroom.

The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me. but I'm also suing you. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Ego Wodam is your host for the 2026 IHart Podcast Awards, live at South by Southwest. Hello, is anybody there? Raised by a single mom, Ego may have a few father-related issues. Are we supposed to talk about your dad? Her podcast, Thanks, Dad, is full of funny, heartfelt conversations with actors,

including fellow S&L alums, comedians, musicians, and more about life and their wonderfully complicated relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. Get to know Ego. Follow Thanks, Dad, with Ego Wodom, and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than no grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1,

including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sports most consequential, driver strike, and plenty of other mishapsed scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent, gumster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of the on-purpose podcast. I'm joined by Luke Combs, award-winning country music artist, and one of the most authentic voices in music today. The guy that says he's always going to be there and that will do anything to be there is the only guy that's not there. No matter what, I'm going to prioritize my wife and my children.

I dread the conversation with my son. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Chetty on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.