Second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland scored the first touchdown of his career on Monday night against the Arizona Cardinals. The Dallas Cowboys player recovered a blocked punt in the end zone, and although his team lost 27-17, it was the biggest play of his career.
With one sack and 12 tackles this year, the former Western Michigan player was certainly performing better statistically in his sophomore season than last year, after the Cowboys drafted him 56th overall in second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
‘I still feel like she’s there watching over me.’
This made the Cowboys’ announcement Thursday that Kneeland is now deceased even more shocking.
“It is with extreme sadness that the Dallas Cowboys share that Marshawn Kneeland tragically passed away this morning,” the team said, per ESPN. “Marshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization. Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family.”
Sadly, Kneeland’s mother also recently passed away.
After a successful college career, Kneeland was preparing for the NFL Draft when his mother passed away suddenly.
As reported by the Dallas Morning News, she passed from an undisclosed illness. Kneeland said at the time that he just found a way to manage the loss and said he always told her he would make it to the NFL.
“She’s still with me,” he said. “I got this urn of her ashes I carry with me everywhere. I still feel like she’s there watching over me.”
Kneeland subsequently carried the ashes in a necklace following the draft.
After the announcement of Kneeland’s sudden death, fans were understandably shocked.
“Bro scored a touchdown Monday night and 3 days later he’s gone. Life is crazy. I feel horrible for his family and friends,” one fan wrote on X.
“Rest in peace man, he had such an insanely bright future,” another fan replied.
Another noted that it was “hard to find the right words right now.”
The poster added, “Marshawn Kneeland wasn’t just an incredible athlete he was the kind of person who lifted everyone around him.”
‘… a pain I can hardly put into words.’
Kneeland’s agent, Jonathan Perzley, released a much more personal statement on the loss of his “dearest friend”: “I am shattered to confirm that my client and dearest friend Marshawn Kneeland passed away last night,” Perzley said, according to TMZ.
“I watched him fight his way from a hopeful kid at Western Michigan with a dream of being a respected professional for the Dallas Cowboys,” he added. “Marshawn poured his heart into every snap, every practice, and every moment on the field. To lose someone with his talent, spirit, and goodness is a pain I can hardly put into words.”
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Frisco Police issued a subsequent press release saying that Kneeland’s death was being investigated as a suicide.
“A man was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following an outside agency vehicle pursuit that led to a multi-agency search in Frisco,” the department wrote on X.
The release said that reports indicated Kneeland had fled the scene of a car crash after evading troopers on the Dallas Parkway.
“During the course of the search, officers received information that Kneeland had expressed suicidal ideations,” Frisco PD wrote.
Kneeland was later located just after 1:30 a.m., dead by “what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
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