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01/03/2018 11:00 PMDanny Thomas turned in an excellent senior year for the Branford football squad during the 2017 fall season. A standout wide receiver for the Hornets, Danny earned the team’s Most Valuable Player Award, in addition to garnering All-SCC Tier 3 and All-State Class M recognition.
“I wanted to play more this year. Once the first couple of games went by, and I was averaging 115 yards and nine catches per game, my confidence went up where I thought I could keep it up,” says Danny. “Once I went All-Conference, that was awesome, because that’s what I wanted. To go All-State was mind-blowing, because I didn’t think I could get that.”
Danny finished the season with 49 receptions for 858 yards and five touchdowns. He also broke a school record for receiving yards in a game when he totaled 192 in a loss against Sheehan on Sept. 22. Hornets’ Head Coach John Limone was excited to tell Danny the news after confirming that he’d broken the record, but ended up being surprised by his response.
“I had a chance to tell him it was a school record, and he looked at me and shrugged it off. He said, ‘Coach, we didn’t win the game, so I don’t really care.’ That goes to show you what kind of person he is,” Limone says. “He’s fun to be around and has fun all the time, but when the lights are on Friday, he plays his tail off. That’s how great of a competitor and teammate he is. At the end of the day, the kid just wants to win.”
Danny used his team-first demeanor to lead the Hornets as one of their senior captains. Danny was humbled when he found out that he’d earned that title.
“It’s a big honor. To me, it felt good knowing the coaches and players trusted me to lead,” he says. “I put myself in other’s shoes. I had to deal with things, and kids on the team were going through some of the same things, so I’d help. If they ever needed to talk, everybody knew they could use me.”
Danny moved to Branford from West Haven when he was in 8th grade. Coach Limone initially thought that Danny was best suited to play quarterback, but Danny wanted to use his speed on the outside, and Limone feels happy that he gave him that chance.
“He kind of voiced to us he wanted to play wide receiver, because he felt more comfortable out there...Prior to this year, he really put in the work and came into his senior year as an all-over-the-field threat,” says Limone. “He became an unbelievable threat for us offensively. He worked on his route running and became a really good route runner. He’s a really talented kid and put in a lot of hard work.”
Danny knew that wide receiver was the ideal spot for him, because his overall skill set is tailor-made for that position.
“Just the ability to go up for the ball and make wild catches on top of people or in traffic. I can do some things that not a lot of others can. I have the hands for it,” says Danny, who also plays for Branford’s boys’ basketball team. “Also, my height and ability to go up for the ball. In basketball, nobody can jump as high as me, so that only helps my ability to catch the football.”
Danny feels thankful for the opportunities that Coach Limone provided him at Branford High School. As he prepares for the next stage of his life, Danny wants to play football, although he isn’t sure if he’s going to do so in college right away or instead do post-graduate year.
“I can see myself committing, but I can also see myself doing a post-grad, because some of the Division I programs looking at me, my GPA needs to be higher,” says Danny. “I wasn’t planning on going to college, but once I realized I could play football in college, I started trying. A post-grad year can help me be independent and give me more time to get stronger and faster.”