Aaron Hernandez Changes Plans and Signs With Florida

By Jeff Flinn, NFLHS.com

Early on in the recruiting process, Bristol, Conn. tight end Aaron Hernandez decided to join his brother, the University of Connecticut Huskies' starting quarterback D.J. Hernandez, in helping rebuild the UConn football program.

But Aaron became aware last spring of his potential, including high rankings from most scouting agencies, and paid the University of Florida a visit over spring break week.

The visit stretched the whole week and ended with Aaron's phone call home, informing his family and the UConn coaching staff that he had a change of heart and would be attending the University of Florida.

"Florida is a great school, with great people, great players, great coaches ... and I just felt at home when I went there," said the 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end. He signed his Letter of Intent Feb. 7 at his high school, surrounded by classmates, teammates and family.

Hernandez was a two-year starter at Bristol Central High School, where he caught 67 passes for 1,807 yards and 24 touchdowns during his career. But the humble receiver said he has a lot of work to do, and plans to do just that after arriving in Gainesville.

"My freshman and sophomore year I wasn't the best player, I had a lot of work to do; I still have a lot of work to do," he said. "I still need to work on my blocking, and I need a lot of work on my receiving skills, to get to the collegiate level, but I am ready to work on it."

Hernandez played both ways in high school, as tight end and defensive end. Doing so, he said, helped "toughen me up" and helped prepare him for the next level.

"I love to work, I love to learn. I credit my blocking, running routes, my hands, for getting me noticed," he said, adding, "They liked the fact I am an athletic tight end. They know I'm a very hard worker; anything I can do to get better, I'm going to be doing that."

While the start of spring ball is still months away, Hernandez' college career is already under way. He arrived on campus Jan. 8 and has been attending class for almost a month now.

"It's ... tough, going right from high school to college like that, but I've always worked hard in school, I am going to try my hardest to study, and hopefully that works for my grades," he said after a practice at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. After the game on Jan. 6, Hernandez departed straight for Gainesville.

"That's one of the positives of getting there early, is getting into a routine, getting comfortable with classes, my teammates, the facilities, and the whole college setting."

One conflict may arise when spring ball starts -- Hernandez is deeply attached to the number he's worn throughout his football career, No. 15. That happens to be the same number worn by Florida freshman phenom Tim Tebow.

"I need this number, I love this number," he laughingly said following the All-American Bowl game. "Hopefully I can have it everywhere I can go. Yeah, that's (Tim) Tebow's number, but his number's really 5 ... so it'll be easy to get No. 15 down there."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.