The Dallas Cowboys returned to action with heavy hearts following the death of defensive end Marshawn Kneeland.
It was an emotional scene as the Cowboys hit the field at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium to play the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, November 17, Dallas’ first game since Kneeland died of an apparent suicide on November 6. He was 24 years old.
Prior to kick off, both teams took the field as the announcer offered their “thoughts and prayers” to Kneeland’s “friends, family and teammates.” He then asked the stadium for a “moment of silent reflection” in honor of Kneeland’s life before providing contact information for the Suicide and Crisis Hotline.
“It’s been a difficult 10 days as this teams tries to process their loss while also trying to continue their season. The last time Marshawn was on the field he recorvered a blunt punt for his first career touchdown and just three days later he was gone,” MNF reporter Lisa Salters said at the start of the evening, noting, “The Cowboys held a private vigil for Kneeland on Tuesday night at their facility, but perhaps it was Thursday’s practice, getting back on the field together for the first time, that offered the most healing.”
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Salters said she spoke to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott prior to the game, who reportedly told his teammates, ‘When you think about Marshawn, run harder to the ball, focus in a little bit more, realizing that we’re getting to do something that Marshawn isn’t going to do anymore.”
The team wore special T-shirts before the game in remembrance of Kneeland and a moment of silence was held before the game.
After Kneeland’s death, the Cowboys announced they would wear player-designed helmet decals to honor Kneeland throughout the remainder of the season. The defensive end’s jersey will also hang in the visitor locker room.
Kneeland died after a brief police pursuit on the morning of November 6.
According to police audio obtained by Us Weekly on November 10, Kneeland had sent goodbye texts to friends and family. His girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, allegedly told authorities that the late NFL star had “a history of mental illness.”
During a Cowboys press conference on Wednesday, November 12, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer revealed that Mancera is pregnant. The franchise set up the Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund, which will financially assist Mancera and her baby.
Schottenheimer, 52, said Kneeland had “the most playful spirit of any young man I’ve been around.”
“My heart is heavy, my team’s heart is heavy,” Schottenheimer added. “We don’t move on, but we do move forward.”
Select members of the Cowboys roster also spoke to the media on Thursday, November 14, including defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, whose sister Ella died by suicide in 2018.
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“Marshawn was in the building, smiling every day,” Thomas, 30, said. “He was happy, he was listening to music, he was dancing all the time. But that’s the thing with mental health and suicide. You just never know what someone’s going through. Someone could be smiling, someone could be dancing, laughing, having a great time, expressing all this joy, but inside, they could really be fighting the battle that you never know about.”
He continued, “You don’t know what the chemicals are telling them in their brain. You don’t know the trauma from their childhood. You don’t know everything they’ve been going through, and that’s why it’s so important to be kind. It’s so important to ask people how they’re doing. It’s so important to tell people the resources around them and that therapy is OK as a man, therapy is OK as a woman. These are things that we are that we need to go through because you never know what battle someone’s going through.”
Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who had become close with Kneeland before his death, was asked what he knew about Kneeland’s mental health before his death.
“I’ve seen him get upset before,” Odighizuwa, 27, said. “That’s why I know [that] Marshawn was a sensitive guy. That’s why I’m like, I know everything was 110 percent with him, even his emotions. When he got upset, he would be very upset. That was kind of the most that I knew.”
