Holmes graduate and football standout Brandent Englemon dies at 36

Northern Kentucky is mourning the loss of one of its most decorated athletes.

Brandent Englemon passed away Thursday at the age of 36. The Holmes High School graduate was a football and basketball standout. He played football at the University of Michigan, playing 35 games for the Wolverines from 2005-07.

He recorded 170 total tackles at safety in three seasons on the University of Michigan football team. He posted three interceptions in his senior season in 2007.

After the 2007 season, Michigan named Englemon the winner of the Dr. Arthur D. Robinson Scholarship Award as the top student-athlete on the football team and received the Charles Woodson Award as the team's top defensive back. The award is named after the NFL standout and Michigan’s Hall of Fame defensive back.

Englemon started the final 11 games of the regular season, tallying a career-best 80 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and six pass breakups. He was named honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference that season.

He graduated from Holmes with the career record for passing yards (4,039) and career rushing yard (1,845). He was named all-tournament in the Ninth Region in basketball. He is in the Holmes Hall of Fame. 

Englemon was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Green Bay Packers in 2008. He lived in the area and was a manager at FedEx.

Sam Elsbernd, the head boys basketball coach at Pendleton County High School, said on his Twitter account that he has known Englemon since they were in seventh grade at Holmes. Elsbernd coached at Holmes for several years, including being an assistant coach for the 2009 KHSAA state champion basketball team.

“Brandent was one of my first friends I made at Holmes in the 7th grade,” Elsbernd tweeted. “… He helped me fit in. Those of you who saw him play know you saw something special. I’m just glad he was my friend.”

In a 2008 interview with the Enquirer, Englemon talked about what graduating from Michigan meant to him.

"Going through college and getting that experience has changed my outlook on a lot of things," Englemon said. "Coming from Covington, a small city, you don't get to see too much. And then going to Michigan and traveling, playing in front of 111,000 people each week, the atmosphere is totally different. It definitely has shaped me into the person I am today, with football, social life and having to balance academics as well. Having to manage those three things on my own the last five years made me into who I am today."

From a past bio of his from the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the National Football Foundation:

“Demonstrating a strong level of commitment to his academic work, Brandent earned a 4.88 grade point average on a 4.0 scale while taking part in Holmes' Baccalaureate Program -- designed for highly motivated secondary students. Ranking fifth in a class of 202, he was a Governor's Scholar and a member of the National Honor Society. His senior year, Englemon was named the First Annual Anthony Munoz Foundation Male High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. 

Earning a number of awards and accolades throughout his high school career, Englemon was twice named to the Louisville Courier Journal First Team All-State squad and also earned First Team All-State honors by the Associated Press for his play at defensive back. A two-time team MVP, Rivals.Com named him to their 2002 All-America team. 

Dedicated to his community, Englemon volunteered at John G. Carlisle Elementary School, a homeless shelter in Newport, Kentucky, a local retirement home, and for two years, he took part in the Great American Clean-Up Day.”

This story will be updated.