New England Patriots fans who are pleased with Chris Long’s play so far this season should be thanking Danny Amendola.
Amendola explained Monday on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” how he helped recruit Long, his old St. Louis Rams teammate, to New England earlier this year.
“Chris has been a good friend of mine for a really long time, and we’ve always talked about philosophies and ideas and stuff like that within the organization and NFL football,” Amendola said, as transcribed by WEEI.com. “We’ve played in St. Louis, and I’ll tell you what, we weren’t a very good football team for a long time. I always tell him I am eager to see the Patriot Way evolve in him and how he molds as a player.
“When he was looking to come here or go to another place, I had a lot of conversation about I wish he would come here for at least the end portion of (his) career or at least a year to see how it’s run, because I know where (he) had been in the eight years and I know what it was like playing in St. Louis. Not that it was bad. It was a great city, and I am thankful for that opportunity, because it was awesome. I am really happy that a new guy like Chris is here to kind of figure it out.”
Amendola and Long played together in St. Louis from 2009 to 2012. Over that span, the Rams reached the postseason exactly zero times. Since joining the Patriots in 2013, Amendola has played in seven playoff games, including Super Bowl XLIX.
Long hopes to enjoy similar good fortune this season. The veteran defensive end certainly has done his part thus far, tallying five tackles, one sack, one pass breakup, two tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and one fumble recovery over his first two games in a Patriots uniform.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
