Marshawn Kneeland speaks to the media during the 2024 NFL Draft Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 28, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Western Michigan University police reportedly conducted two welfare checks on Marshawn Kneeland while he was playing football at the school, prior to his tragic death.
The former Dallas Cowboys defensive end died by suicide on November 6 at the age of 24, following a brief police chase.
Police reports obtained by ESPN reveal that Kneeland’s coaches and friends had called authorities multiple times, beginning in 2020, requesting wellness checks on the athlete.
During the first incident in September 2020, an unnamed friend contacted 911. Officers later found Kneeland near train tracks in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
“Kneeland told me he was sitting across the tracks in hopes a train would run him over to end his life,” the responding officer wrote in the report, according to ESPN. “He said that life overall, and the lack of playing football at WMU, had him feeling down. He indicated he had been feeling this way for a while and does not see a therapist or take any medication for his mental health crisis.”
Though Kneeland declined medical help at the time, deputies ultimately transported him to a local hospital.
The second welfare check occurred in June 2023, less than a year before Kneeland was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.
According to the report, Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor and defensive coordinator Lou Esposito contacted police after Kneeland had recently separated from his girlfriend. They also expressed concern that he might not be “mentally fit to possess a firearm.”
“After speaking with Kneeland, he voluntarily turned the firearm in to WMUPD for safekeeping until cleared by a counselor,” the responding officer wrote.
Police later returned the firearm after Kneeland obtained a letter from a social worker at the Western Michigan Sindecuse Health Center confirming he was not a danger to himself or others.
Hours before Kneeland’s death on November 6, Cowboys director of security Cable Johnson also requested a welfare check, telling authorities that Kneeland had sent goodbye messages to friends and family and said he was “not able to go to prison or to jail.”
At a press conference on November 12, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer announced the creation of the Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund and shared that Kneeland’s girlfriend, Catalina, is pregnant.
“I’d like to offer my condolences to Marshawn’s family and to Catalina,” Schottenheimer said. “We gathered last night to celebrate his life sharing stories, laughing, crying. Marshawn loved the words ‘one love,’ and we talked a lot about love as we grieve. There are many things I’ll miss about him.”
He added, “My heart is heavy, my team’s heart is heavy. We don’t move on, but we do move forward.”
During the team’s first game back since Kneeland’s death on Monday, November 17, the players and coaching staff honored him by wearing special t-shirts pregame. The team will also wear helmet decals of his number for the remainder of the season.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some tears when I first put the shirt on, as you can imagine,” Schottenheimer said. “But more than anything, I know Marshawn was looking down on us, and we wanted to make him proud, and I think we did that.”
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