Western Michigan University police reportedly checked on Marshawn Kneeland twice while he was playing football at the school prior to his untimely death.
The former Dallas Cowboys defensive end died by suicide on November 6 following a brief police chase. He was 24 years old.
According to police report documents obtained by ESPN, Kneeland’s coaches and friends called the police on multiple occasions, dating back to 2020, requesting officials administer a welfare check on the athlete.
During that first incident, in September 2020, Kneeland’s unnamed friend called 911 to request a wellness check. Police later found Kneeland near train tracks in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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“Kneeland told me he was sitting across the tracks in hopes a train would run him over to end his life,” the responding officer wrote in a report, per the outlet. “Kneeland told me life overall and the lack of playing football at WMU had him feeling down. He told me he had been feeling like this for a while. When asked to clarify how long he felt that way, he did not answer. Kneeland said he does not see a therapist or take any medication for his mental health crisis.”
According to the report, Kneeland did not want medical help at the time, but deputies sent him to a local hospital.
The second incident came in June 2023, according to the report, less than a year before Kneeland was drafted into the NFL by the Cowboys.
Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor and then-defensive coordinator Lou Esposito called police with concern after Kneeland had recently separated from his girlfriend. The report also showed concern that Kneeland was not “mentally fit to possess a firearm.”
“After speaking with Kneeland, he voluntarily turned the firearm into WMUPD for safekeeping until cleared by a counselor,” the officer wrote.
Kneeland received his firearm back from police after obtaining a letter from a social worker at the Western Michigan Sindecuse Health Center. The social worker stated that Kneeland was determined not to be a threat to himself or others.
Just hours before Kneeland’s death on November 6, Cowboys’ director of security, Cable Johnson, also called police requesting a welfare check.
Johnson told authorities Kneeland had sent goodbye texts to friends and family and expressed he was “not able to go to prison or to jail.”
At a press conference on November 12, Cowboys head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, announced the creation of the Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund and revealed that Kneeland’s girlfriend, Catalina, was pregnant.
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“I’d like to take a few moments and offer my condolences to Marshawn’s family, Catalina, his girlfriend,” Schottenheimer said. “We had an opportunity last night to celebrate Marshawn’s life, tell some stories. Share, laugh, cry. Marshawn loved the words ‘one love.’ So we talked a lot about love, as we grieve. I got a chance to share a couple of the things that I’ll miss the most about Marshawn.”
He continued, “My heart is heavy, my team’s heart is heavy. We don’t move on, but we do move forward.”
During the team’s first game back since Kneeland’s death on Monday, November 17, the players and coaching staff honored him by wearing special t-shirts pregame. The team will also wear helmet decals of his number for the remainder of the season.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some tears when I first put the shirt on, as you can imagine,” Schottenheimer said. “But more than anything, I know Marshawn was looking down on us, and we wanted to make him proud, and I think we did that.”
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