FRISCO, Texas \u2014 Police in a Dallas suburb say 24-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was found dead of an apparent suicide after evading authorities in his vehicle and fleeing the scene of an accident on foot.<\/p>\n
Frisco police said Thursday they are investigating the possible suicide. They said Kneeland didn\u2019t stop for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers over a traffic violation\u00a0in a chase that Frisco police joined Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org<\/a>. Helplines outside the U.S. can be found at www.iasp.info\/suicidalthoughts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Authorities lost sight of the vehicle before locating it crashed minutes later. During the search after Kneeland fled the crash site on foot, officers said they received word that Kneeland might be suicidal.<\/p>\n He was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound early Thursday morning, about three hours after the crash. Police didn\u2019t say where Kneeland\u2019s body was found.<\/p>\n Kneeland\u2019s death came just days after he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone in a 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.<\/p>\n Kneeland was in his second season with the Cowboys. He was a 2024 second-round draft pick out of Western Michigan.<\/p>\n \u201cI am shattered to confirm that my client and dearest friend Marshawn Kneeland passed away last night,\u201d Kneeland\u2019s agent, Jonathan Perzley, said in a statement that asked for privacy. \u201cMarshawn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Kneeland\u2019s rookie season in 2024 was off to a promising start before he was sidelined for five games by a knee injury.<\/p>\n He had his first career sack in this season\u2019s opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. He played in seven games this season, missing two with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n \u201cMarshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization,\u201d the Cowboys said. \u201cOur thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cowboys have frequently sought pass rushers and other defensive linemen in the first two rounds of the draft. Kneeland was drafted a year after they took defensive end Sam Williams in the second round. Williams blocked the punt that Kneeland recovered against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n Kneeland\u2019s mother, Wendy Kneeland, died while he was preparing for the draft. He had his mother\u2019s ashes in a necklace he wore after joining the Cowboys, according to The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the passing of Cowboys\u2019 Marshawn Kneeland,\u201d the NFL said. \u201cWe have been in contact with the Cowboys and have offered support and counseling resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins receivers coach Robert Prince, who had the same position with the Cowboys when Kneeland was a rookie last year, had tears in his eyes as he met with reporters Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spent a lot of time (together) when he was injured and working out in the weight room,\u201d Prince said. \u201cWe\u2019d shoot the breeze. He was a Western Michigan kid and I coached with the Lions for a while, so we had some Michigan-type stories. Good kid. I\u2019m sorry to hear that about him.\u201d<\/p>\n Kneeland had a career-high 57 tackles along with 4\u00bd sacks in nine games as a senior at Western Michigan.<\/p>\n \u201cMy heart is absolutely broken over the loss of Marshawn Kneeland,\u201d Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor said. \u201cHis leadership, energy and smile were infectious, and he left a lasting impact on everyone in our program. Having coached him during my first season here, we developed a special bond that went far beyond football.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRISCO, Texas \u2014 Police in a Dallas suburb say 24-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,16612,25734,223,80,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-43495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","12":"tag-michigan-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43495","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=43495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}