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Those who knew Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland best are speaking out in the wake of his sudden death.
Kneeland, who was 24, died by suicide in the early hours of Thursday, November 6, after fleeing police as they tried to pull him over for a traffic violation. His cousin, Nicole Kneeland-Woods, told the Dallas Morning News that the former Western Michigan standout was still reeling from the loss of his mom in February 2024.
“They say [it was related to] mental health, but he was grieving,” Kneeland-Woods said in an interview with the publication published on Sunday, November 9. “It was the grieving of his mom that he was dealing with.”
Wendy Kneeland died of an undisclosed illness weeks after Marshawn finished his college career and while he was preparing for the NFL Draft. The Cowboys selected the defensive end in the second round, and he tallied 14 tackles as his rookie season.
In his second year with the franchise, Marshawn appeared in seven games and earned his first career touchdown on Monday, November 3, just days before his death.
“He had an epic moment just this past Monday and was on top of the world,” Kneeland-Woods said. “At any given moment, it just shows you that people are human and people have weak moments. And at that moment, unfortunately, it just felt like he couldn’t turn to anyone, it seems like.”
She continued, “But that does not define who he was.”
Marshawn never shied away publicly from talking about what his mom meant to him. As he was going through his predraft workouts, Marshawn began wearing a chain with a small urn containing his mother’s ashes — his way of keeping Wendy with him as he began to realize his dream.
“It was tough, it still is, but I know at the end of the day the thing that gets me through it is she spent all her life trying to get me to go here and supported me as much as she could to get me to the NFL,” Marshawn told WZZM at the time.
“She was the one driving me around, trying to find a place for me to do football when I was younger, I started off with two hand tap football,” he added. “She was there for all of my games in high school, as much as she could.”
Marshawn spoke at Wendy’s memorial service, reflecting on how she wouldn’t be able to attend his draft night party.
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“It tore me apart,” he said at the funeral, according to the Dallas Morning News. “One thing that helped me get through it is I could still feel her training. I would ask for her to be there with me and it’s like I could feel her presence there with me. And I still do. She was always that loving person, so I know that she’s still watching over me.”
Suddenly not having Wendy’s physical presence, Kneeland-Woods said, was a difficult adjustment for Marshawn.
“That person who has always been your biggest cheerleader — their voice has now been silenced,” she said. “How do you deal with that? How do you process that? That’s deafening.”
She added, “She was really his foundation, his calm in the storm. That was his source; that was his peace.”
