On Thursday night, the Cowboys were not in action, but it was the team on everyone’s mind. Before the Broncos and Raiders squared off to start Week 10 in Denver, an announcement of a moment of silence was made over the PA system, with the video board showing an image of Marshawn Kneeland, the 24-year-old defensive end who died by suicide this week. On the Amazon Prime broadcast, insider Ian Rapoport termed it a “horribly sad day for the Dallas Cowboys.”
Indeed, while the Cowboys felt the most immediate and deepest impact of Kneeland’s death–a black-and-white tribute to Kneeland was displayed at The Star on Thursday–it was a loss shared around the NFL and beyond.
It won’t be easy for current teammates to cope with the loss of Kneeland, but former teammates and folks around the NFL and sports universe in general were stung by the death.
Ex-Cowboys Remembered Marshawn Kneeland
Former Cowboys lineman DeMarcus Lawrence, now with the Seahawks, spoke about Kneeland in Seattle on Thursday.
“It’s tough to lose a brother in a situation like this,” Lawrence said. “So, I want to send my condolences, my love and my prayers.”
Lawrence continued: “I know he loved the game, man. He loved to smile. He loved interacting with his teammates. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him last year. The fourth game I got hurt so that kind of messed up our relationship and time that we had to be together in meetings and stuff. But, yeah man, he was a fun young guy, man. I loved being around him. He’s going to be missed very well.”
And another former Cowboy, Greg Ellis, who coached Kneeland last year, said, ““He epitomized what you look for in a football player. He played the game hard. He was eager to learn. You hear a lot of things about this generation, but that wasn’t Marshawn. He was still a, ‘Yes, sir. No, sir,’ kind of guy.”
Marshawn Kneeland Was ‘A Good Kid’
In Miami, receivers coach Robert Prince was with the Cowboys last season and got emotional as he remembered Kneeland.
“Good kid,” he said. “I have no idea what happened but, just my condolences to those guys. We spent a lot of time in the weight room when he was injured and working out in the weight room, we would shoot the breeze. He was a Western Michigan kid and I coached with the Lions for a while so we would swap stories. Good kid.”
Another former teammate, Rico Dowdle, now of the Panthers, remembered Kneeland, too.
“Just a tough time. Keep him in your prayers and the Cowboys organization,” he said. “Definitely got to spend time with him, one of the guys I did talk to in the locker room. Crazy time. Shocking hearing that, death is not easy for anyone. Definitely shocking.
“High spirited, great person. Guy just smiling all the time, and he’s a great teammate.”
Cowboys Pain Shared Around Sports World
Of course, the seeming senselessness of a death like that of Kneeland had an impact even on those who only knew him marginally, if at all. Players and coach did not need to be former Cowboys to feel the impact–at the Dallas Stars game on Thursday night, a moment of silence was held for Kneeland.
In Philadelphia, coach Nick Sirianni told reporters, “Obviously, the NFL is a brotherhood. So obviously, that was on our mind this morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and the Dallas Cowboys. It just puts things into perspective.”
Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith, too, weighed in, writing on social media, “Heartbroken. Sending my deepest condolences to Marshawn Kneeland‘s family and loved ones.”
CBS analyst and fellow NFL legend JJ Watt wrote, “Difficult to process the horrible news out of Dallas. Just tragic. RIP Marshawn Kneeland.”
The Cowboys are in their bye week.
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