The name Nkemdiche is likely to draw some mixed reaction in Oxford, especially when discussing Denzel.

Brothers Denzel and Robert signed with Ole Miss hoping to revitalize the Rebel football program with coach Hugh Freeze and you could very easily argue that mission was accomplished from 2012-15. Early on, the results were outstanding. Denzel was named a Freshman All-American in 2012 and helped usher his brother, and consensus No. 1 overall prospect, Robert to Oxford the following season.

During their time in Oxford, Ole Miss beat Alabama twice, advanced to two New Year’s Six Bowls – including a win in the 2016 Sugar Bowl, the Rebels held a 3-1 record in Egg Bowls during that span and Robert went on to be drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft after being named an All-American in 2015.

But for all the good accomplished, there was much negativity surrounding the brothers.

They were sued for $2 million dollars following an alleged fight at a fraternity party, pictures of Robert smoking from a bong surfaced prior to the Tennessee game in 2014, Denzel went awol at one point during his senior season and never returned to the team, Robert went crashing through a fourth-floor Atlanta hotel window and since leaving the school, the football program remains under investigation by the NCAA following a number of alleged recruiting violations.

For the first time, Denzel Nkemdiche opened up on his past at Ole Miss on the Talk of Champions podcast with Ben Garrett and Kentrell Lockett. Among the revelations Denzel admitted on the podcast, the linebacker admitted he ‘lost his passion for football’ toward the end of his career.

Denzel also opened up on his history with drugs while at Ole Miss:

“I will say I partook in some drug use while I was in college. I went down the road of LSD, Acid, whatever you want to call it. People may have their judgments on that but I don’t believe in any coincidences… That’s what happened (his senior year). I went down that path, I’m clean now, I’m drug-free now.”

Now clean and moving forward in his life, happily working toward a career in music, Denzel offered these poignant thoughts on being honest in life, not only with himself but with those you care about:

“Every lie I was telling (his girlfriend), I was telling myself because before you can tell a lie, you have to believe it. You pretty much allow yourself to believe your lies at the end of the day… It’s hard to live a blissful, genuine life, a true life down the right path if you are telling lies. You never go forward by lying about anything to anyone, any situation.”

While his career may not have ended the way he envisioned, it sounds like Denzel is happy with his journey and where it has ultimately led him to this point in his life and in his music. Regardless of what happens next at Ole Miss, the joy and winning he and his brother helped bring to Oxford during their careers is a memory no one can strip away from Rebel Nation.