Danny Amendola: One Bill Belichick mandate helped Patriots beat Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX

Danny Amendola reeled in five catches and scored a touchdown in New England's win over Seattle.

Danny Amendola played a key role in New England's victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Matt Slocum / AP

February 23, 2023

2 minutes to read

The sight of Chiefs and Eagles players slipping on the field at State Farm Stadium during Super Bowl LVII brought back plenty of memories for Danny Amendola.

The former Patriots wide receiver was all too familiar with the slick playing surface found at the Arizona Cardinals’ home arena.

Even with the NFL shelling out $800,000 to revamp the field ahead of the latest Super Bowl, Amendola noted on Chris Long’s “Green Light” podcast that the venue has always had a knack for getting slick.

“When you play a night game in AZ, for some reason the grass always gets a little dewy at night, and it’s so slick,” Amendola said. “I’ve worn seven studs on that field numerous times.”

“Seven studs” refers to the type of cleat that players can wear in order to gain more traction on the field. The two most popular styles of football cleats are “seven studs” and “molded”, with the latter usually preferred, given their lighter weight.

But even if molded cleats are more comfortable, Amendola revealed that Bill Belichick gave the Patriots a gear-focused mandate ahead of New England’s showdown with the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

“One Super Bowl we played in, Bill made it a mandatory seven-stud game,” Amendola said of the championship matchup, which was also held at State Farm Stadium. “We were all [expletive] and moaning, but we didn’t have too many slips.”

The Patriots were already going to have their hands full on both sides of the ball in Glendale, Arizona.

Whether it be executing against the stout “Legion of Boom” defense or slowing down Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, the last thing the Patriots needed to overcome was an uncooperative playing surface.

And unlike Philadelphia and Kansas City, the Patriots rarely found themselves slipping across the field during their eventual 28-24 triumph over Seattle.

“On that surface, you’ve got to switch the tires out and put the seven-studs in,” Amendola said. “I feel like you get a lot better traction. You don’t feel like you can play as fast in them, but at the same time, you’re chopping it up, you’re gripping the turf. … Anybody that slipped [in Super Bowl LVII], look at the cleats they were wearing. They were probably wearing the wrong tires.”

A fourth-quarter comeback orchestrated by Tom Brady and a game-sealing interception from Malcolm Butler secured New England’s fourth Super Bowl title.

But after reviewing the game tape against the Seahawks, Belichick’s cleat requirements did pay dividends throughout the back-and-forth battle.

“We watched the film after …. they had guys on the ground all night,” Amendola said. “I felt better [in seven studs], and I kind of switched my routes up knowing that they were going to slip.

“I switched my releases up a little bit and have them kind of get on skates a little bit more, and I felt very comfortable that game with seven-studs. You can look on film and the Seattle Seahawks were all over the ground.”