WHS football player signs letter of intent

Windsor High School senior Aaron Berardino has signed a Letter of Intent to play football for the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils. Courtesy photo.

Boys covered in sweat and dirt playing pickup games of football cannot wait to be old enough to put on the pads and play in a real game. Some get the chance to play earlier than others, including Windsor High School senior Aaron Berardino.

“He started in West Hartford at 6 or 7, and he excelled as soon as he touched the ball,” said his father, Todd Berardino. “He wanted to keep up with his older brother [who was two years older]."

“I started early because my dad was coaching, and he pulled some strings to get me to play,” Aaron Berardino said.

Berardino, who plays wide receiver and defensive back for the Warriors, signed his Letter of Intent on National Signing Day to play for the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut State University, coming full circle from his pickup games and youth football leagues.

“I think it’s a great fit at Central,” his father said. “He is going to come in and work hard from the start. He knows what it takes to excel in the classroom and on the field.”

“He has so much athletic ability and a strong worth ethic,” said CCSU head coach Todd McInerney. “He has the ability to turn a five yard pass into a touchdown.”

Berardino has been climbing the football depth charts since his freshman year at Windsor High School. He moved to Windsor from New Britain concerned and unsure if he would make the football team. He hoped to at least make the freshman squad.

On the first play of freshman practice Berardino, 14 years old at the time, took a pitch to the right and ran over a defender, breaking his arm. He practiced with the varsity squad every day after that first run.

In his freshman year, Berardino played in junior varsity and varsity games. He scored three touchdowns in his first JV game and contributed as a slot receiver in varsity games. His freshman year ended with Windsor head coach Mark Welch resigning and Weaver’s Rob Fleeting taking over the position.

“It was a rocky transition,” Berardino said. “Coach Welch was like my grandfather. I would go over his house every Sunday for dinner and to watch film.”

I didn’t know Aaron at the time, but I had heard about him,” Fleeting said. “I decided to start from scratch and put new guidelines in place. I wanted to turn them into better players,” he said of taking over the reins at WHS.

Fleeting would concentrate on character and personality before teaching the x’s and o’s on the football field. “He taught us about becoming a man, and not just [about] football,” Berardino said.

During the next three summers, Fleeting brought the Windsor football team to football camp at CCSU. “They talked to me sophomore year and thought I was a senior,” Berardino recalled.

Berardino led the Warriors to 8-2 seasons during his sophomore and junior campaigns, while being named All-Conference both years and All-State his junior year.

After his junior season, Berardino began attending college football camps to prepare for his senior season and to gain exposure so he could receive scholarship offers from Division 1 schools. He attended football camps for the University of Connecticut, Boston College, Temple, Stony Brook and CCSU.

“We had somewhat of a relationship with Aaron through the camps,” McInerney said. “During the last two years we were recruiting Aaron hard.”

“They [CCSU] stuck with me, and they were by my side the whole time,” Berardino said.

Berardino steered the Warriors to an 11-1 record in his senior year, helping the team advance to the Class L semifinals where they lost to New Canaan. He was selected All-Conference for the third time and All-State for the second time at the conclusion of the season.

“He is the top receiver I have ever seen in my life,” Fleeting said. “I hope he makes it to the league. I want to stick my tongue out at the people that didn’t give him a chance.”

In his senior season, Berardino filled up the stat sheet on both sides of the ball. He tallied 58 receptions, 17 for touchdowns, gaining 1,260 yards. He also carried the ball 30 times for 188 yards and seven touchdowns. He returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns, as well. He also recorded eight interceptions and two forced fumbles as a defensive back.

“He is a straight shooter,” said Todd Berardino. “He doesn’t do a lot of talking, he just plays hard.”

The accolades kept rolling in for Berardino when was named the Hartford Courant’s Offensive Player of the Year, won a slot on the Hartford Courant All-State First Team and the Connecticut Coaches Association's Elite All-State Team, and was named the Windsor Warrior’s 2011 Most Valuable Player.

“I’m proud of the young man he is growing into,” said Berardino's father. “The sky is the limit for him.”