{"id":38536,"date":"2025-11-06T19:36:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T19:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/38536\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T19:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T19:36:19","slug":"cowboys-marshawn-kneeland-dies-after-apparent-self-inflicted-gunshot-following-police-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/38536\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys\u2019 Marshawn Kneeland dies after apparent self-inflicted gunshot following police chase"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was found dead early Thursday morning in Frisco, Texas,\u00a0from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after crashing his vehicle following a police chase,\u00a0the Texas Department of Public Safety said.\u00a0He was 24.<\/p>\n<p>The chase began at 10:33 p.m. local time on Wednesday, when officers attempted to stop the vehicle Kneeland was driving. He refused to stop, leading DPS troopers to pursue Kneeland until they said they lost sight of his car. The vehicle was later found abandoned after being involved in a crash in the southbound lanes of the Dallas Parkway.<\/p>\n<p>Initial reports indicated that Kneeland fled the scene on foot, according to the Frisco Police Department. The police in nearby Plano confirmed to\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0that a welfare concern check was conducted at an address associated with Kneeland on Wednesday at 11:40 p.m. local time. Officers did not find anybody at the residence.<\/p>\n<p>Kneeland was found dead at 1:31 a.m.,\u00a0though police did not specify where.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization,\u201d the Cowboys said in a statement. \u201cOur thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the passing of Cowboys\u2019 Marshawn Kneeland. <\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts and prayers are with his girlfriend Catalina, family, friends and his teammates. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4kowniiC0c\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/4kowniiC0c<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NFL (@NFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL\/status\/1986448302485967349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">November 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are devastated by this tremendous loss and are still processing the depth of our grief,\u201d his family said in a statement to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/cowboys\/2025\/11\/06\/dallas-cowboys-defensive-end-marshawn-kneeland-dies-at-24\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Dallas Morning News<\/a>. \u201cAs Marshawn was making his mark on the football field with the Dallas Cowboys, he held an even more special place off the field \u2014 as a devoted son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew, grandson, and friend. He was kind, determined, humble, and full of love. His light shone brightly in every life he touched, and his spirit will continue to live on through the countless hearts he inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kneeland was in his second season with the team after being selected in the second round of the 2024 Draft. He played in seven games this season, starting three. He had 12 tackles and one sack.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, in the Cowboys\u2019 last game before the bye week, Kneeland scored his first career touchdown after recovering a blocked punt in the end zone in a 27-17 loss at home against the Arizona Cardinals.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Kneeland spent the majority of his life in western Michigan. He played linebacker and tight end at Godwin Heights High School in Wyoming, Mich., before competing at Western Michigan University, where he earned second-team All-MAC honors in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Two months before Kneeland was selected by the Cowboys, his mother, Wendy, passed away unexpectedly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowing up, she was always there for me, always going to all my games, on cold nights,\u201d he said in his opening comments at her memorial service on March 5, 2024. \u201c(She was) just always there for me. It\u2019s definitely tough. You just never expect something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kneeland is the first active NFL player to die during a season since 2018, when Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson was killed after being struck by a car. In 2012, Cowboys linebacker Jerry Brown died in a car accident shortly after being signed to the team\u2019s practice squad.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2020, Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul died after suffering a medical emergency at the team\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n<p>If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or is in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or at 988lifeline.org.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was found dead early Thursday morning in Frisco, Texas,\u00a0from an apparent self-inflicted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,113,104,103,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-38536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas-headlines","11":"tag-dallas-news","12":"tag-nfl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}