Dallas Cowboys’ defensive end Marshawn Kneeland dies at 24

Certainly, all of Cowboys Nation, and the NFL community, mourns the tremendous and stunning loss of Marshawn Kneeland. Here, we will remember his odds-defying, tremendous, and far too short life.

Remembering The Life of Marshawn Kneeland

Born to Wendy Kneeland on July 8th, 2001, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the budding football star would ultimately reside and play up until his commitment to the Western Michigan Broncos.

By the end of his college career in Kalamazoo, Kneeland had become a star, but he started as an overlooked, under-recruited kid from Godwin Heights High School.

Western Michigan was his only D-1 offer, and the young man did not waste his opportunity.

He entered the 2024 NFL Draft cycle as a second-team All-MAC player, with 13 career college sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss. His stock was going through the roof in the build-up to the scouting combine, when he then lost his mother, Wendy.

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Kneeland credited his late mother with being the foundation of his football journey, and in the seasons that followed with Dallas, he wore a necklace containing her ashes.

While she never got to see her son take the field in the NFL, as he always told her he would, Kneeland certainly kept her memory alive with him as his journey continued into the pros.

Dallas selected Marshawn Kneeland with the 56th pick in the 2024 Draft and played in 11 games in his rookie campaign. This season, he emerged improved and motivated, recording his first career sack and touchdown in just seven games.

With his passing, the NFL journey and young life he was building ended, but his legacy and story will live on as one of perseverance and overcoming in the face of obstacles and tragedy.

We wish that his family, friends, teammates, and coaches find peace in this tragic situation, and that he may rest in eternal peace.