Allen Brenner, widely considered the best athlete to ever come out of Niles, passed away Monday in Clinton, N.C.

Brenner, who graduated from Niles High School in 1965, was a star football player for Michigan State University in the mid-1960s and played professional football for the New York Giants from 1969 to 1970 and in the Canadian Football League in the 1970s.

Allen’s older brother, Terry Brenner, 65, of Niles, said he’ll remember his brother as a talented athlete.

“Things always came easy for him. He just had a gift,” Terry said. “He played lots of sports, basketball, baseball, football. A lot people thought he was a better basketball player than football player.”

Allen led the Niles High School basketball team to conference championships in 1963, ’64 and ’65. He once held the record for career points (1,036) and most points scored in a game (44) at Niles. He wound up averaging 31.2 points per game during his high school basketball career, according to the book “My Friday Night Heroes: Niles High School Pigskin Autumns Volume II 1949-2001,” by Bill and Linda Shoumake.

The Chicago Cubs offered Allen a professional baseball contract in the spring of 1965, but he instead chose to attend Michigan State University on a football scholarship. He earned numerous All-Big Ten and All-American honors while playing for coach Duffy Daugherty. Allen was the starting defensive back in the “Game of the Century” played between MSU and the University of Notre Dame in 1966. During the game, Allen tackled Irish quarterback Terry Hanratty on the 1-yard line forcing the game into a 10-10 tie. He finished his career as the second-leading pass receiver in MSU history.

Allen played two seasons with the New York Giants before an injury caused him to be released from the team. From there, he joined the Canadian Football League and won three Grey Cups, two with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and one with the Ottawa Roughriders. He set a CFL record in 1972 by intercepting the ball 15 times.

On April 23, 1983, Allen drove to a gas station, called his wife, Suzi, and told her the keys were in the car. He then disappeared for reasons still unknown, according to a report from The Fifth Estate.

Eight years later, Allen resurfaced and began to reconnect with his family.

“It is something we try not to dwell on,” Terry said.

Terry said Allen was living in Clinton, N.C., with Suzi for the past several years.

“The thing you need to remember about him is he was a small-town kid who went away to college and became an All-American. There aren’t a lot of those types of stories,” Terry said. “He showed us anything is possible if you have the God-given talent and work hard at your craft.”