Marshawn Kneeland Tragedy Touched Anterio Thompson Personally

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Nov 20, 2025 11:59 AM ET

During the college football season, University of Washington coaches and players often will remind you there's no time for reflection, recollection or retrospection, with their focus constantly shifting only from one opponent to the next.

Except in the case of Husky defensive tackle Anterio Thompson, who recently paused to deal with a real-life matter away from the game, to try to comprehend a well-publicized tragedy that touched him on a personal level in his football journey.

Thompson was acquainted with Marshawn Kneeland, the Dallas Cowboys edge rusher who sadly committed suicide on November 6.

Kneeland was a Western Michigan stalwart preparing for the 2024 NFL draft when he met Thompson, who was among those brought in by the school to replace his defensive prowess up front, transferring from Iowa.

Going in different directions -- the accomplished guy going out the door and the new guy coming in -- they found time to chat each other up on the Western Michigan campus.

"He would come in and work out," Thompson said. "I got to have a conversation with him before he went out to go to Dallas. He was really a cool guy."

The 6-foot-3, 268-pound Kneeland, a Michigan native, became a second-round NFL draft pick and appeared in 18 Cowboys games, starting four. Three days before his death, he recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals.

"Coach [Lance] Taylor, the coach who's there, talked about how hard he worked," Thompson said of the Western Michigan leader.

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Thompson spent the 2024 season at Western Michigan, while Kneeland was a Cowboys rookie, before he transferred to Washington for his final season of college football.

For the Huskies, he's appeared in all 10 games, starting twice, had just had a sack this past weekend in the Huskies' 49-13 victory over Purdue.

Kneeland, 24, apparently took his own life with a gun after crashing his car in Frisco, Texas, this after being involved in a police chase that had been suspended the night before.

Trying to make sense of it all, Thompson got in touch with former Western Michigan teammates of his online.

"It was really sad -- the news," he said. "I've still got a group chat with guys on the team i played with and it was kind of just devastating to think he would do something like that, just being the guy he was, always smiling. He'd come to practices with a smile on his face and always try to turn the energy up."

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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