Danny Amendola is used to winning championships when he was part of the New England Patriots, but he finished in fifth place on this season of Dancing With The Stars, which wrapped up Tuesday night.
Unfortunately for Amendola, a series of misconstrued references made his final moments on the show a bit awkward for him, his fellow competitors, and the audience.
The cringe began when the 14-year NFL veteran was asked how he was doing after just finishing one of his final solo dances.
“I feel great,” said a very sweaty Amendola. “We’re ready to get ready for this freestyle so y’all strap it up, let’s go.”
“Strap it up, let’s go!” added show co-host Julianne Hough as a sense of befuddlement seemed to ripple through the crowd and some of the fellow dancers. That included former NBA star Dwight Howard, who looked downright confused.
In context, “strap it up” is a phrase the former football player commonly used in his playing days to refer to strapping on your helmet and getting to work. However, without context, it seemed to sound like a sexual innuendo.
Later on, longtime judge Carrie Ann Inaba asked Amendola to clarify his comment, wondering if he had said he needed to “strap in.” It gave him a chance to provide the proper context. She also threw a Mike Leach-related reference in his direction. Unfortunately, without context, this too made everyone think that a sexual innuendo had been casually tossed out.
“You strapped up…and you swung your sword,” said Inaba, referencing Leach’s infamous catchphrase (Amendola played for Leach at Texas Tech). The audience immediately started giggling, presumably thinking she was cheekily using the term to refer to something else.
“You guys are misunderstanding,” Inaba said to the laughing audience behind her. “There is history to this comment!”
Everyone had a laugh, but it was also a pretty good reminder that football without context can often sound dirtier than a Cinemax movie at 1:00 a.m.