DeMarvion Overshown Talks Marshawn Kneeland, Return to Football, & More | Player Interviews

DeMarvion Overshown Talks Marshawn Kneeland, Return to Football, & More | Player Interviews

Yes, sir. Uh, thank y’all. Uh, you know, first first game back for me, but uh before any of that, you know, I want to talk about Marshon Neland, uh, number 94, a brother, uh, a teammate and a and a great human, man. uh you know over the past couple days week I’ve myself and not speaking but for my teammates but I’m pretty sure some of them too been in and out of sadness you know uh when you lose anybody in your family but when you lose a brother so close to you like my son who who lights just brighten up the room uh even you know now knowing the darkness he was going went through, yet he still was able to come up here and be the light for for so many other people. And and and for him just being there for me, you know, he was one of the guys that I seen almost every day when I came in after my surgery cuz he would be here in the building. Uh so, you know, being able to laugh with him, uh get that giggle, get that chuckle from him, uh it was something that you look forward to every day. And uh I think my teammates and and coach Shotti couldn’t have said it better when he said this is this is something that we we will never move on from. Uh this is something that we won’t just wake up tomorrow and then everything going to be okay. We just going to all of a sudden understand, you know, God’s plan. It’s not. But it is one of those things where we got to pick it up and and we got to move forward and we got to, you know, keep Maran legacy alive. and and that was smiling every day, enjoying the grit and the hard work that that comes with this. And that’s playing with the passion when we get out there with our brothers and and most importantly that’s doing it the Marshan kneeling way. And that’s like I said having fun while doing it. Uh so um it’s been hard. It’s playing Monday is not going to make it easier. uh plan the following, you know, Sunday and Thursday. Not gonna make it easier. Uh so I I really just, you know, ask ask for y’all mercy on me, my teammates, uh the coaches, ask, you know, for the continued prayers because as much as we run around and, you know, push forward and and laugh and and smile, that that hole is still there. That hole is still there. And uh but we all know Marion, he was a winner. He wanted to win no matter how. You know, he was I say he was the light all the time, but when it came to playing football, that that’s that anger that came out. That was that guy that, you know, I want to be playing by him when when it’s all said and done, when it’s fourth quarter, uh balls to the wall, fourth and inches, who you want beside you? And it’s Marshon Nean. So, uh, I just ask for y’all grace for for me and my teammates, not throughout the remainder of this year, but just moving forward in general, and we will keep his legacy alive. That’s that’s for sure. Is is it hard to balance I mean, so much excitement you have coming back and been pointing toward coming back and sort of excited about coming back and playing. It’s hard to balance your excitement with the grief over Marawn and you know, you want to be excited, ready to play, but you just have to deal with that. So, you know, I don’t know how you balance that. Uh, I wouldn’t say it’s a balance. I would say like when that time and that that grief creeps upon you, you you deal with it. Whether that’s during practice, you know, before the game or, you know, during the game, I feel like the excitement, you know, playing football is one thing. You know, that’s that’s a game I love it. I’m going to play with the passion just because that’s what I do, right? But when you talk about, you know, as far as like emotionally and, you know, how geeked up I was about returning uh prime time uh with my brothers, you know, we missing one now. So, uh I’m playing for for more than just the comeback player of the year. I’m playing for number 94. Can you talk about your journey? How therapeutic has it been? It’s been the biggest blessing I could ask for. uh when we met with the team, you know, I stood up and I told everybody, “Thank you. Uh thank y’all for being here. Thank y’all for giving me a safe space to to come and and and cry on the shoulder because uh talking about it has been hard, you know, especially with with people like in my family that don’t really understand the dynamic of the relationships that we and the bonds that we build within this locker room. I spent 13 14 hours here a day. So within those 13 14 hours, not only am I a football player, but I’m a I’m a brother. I’m a I’m a friend and I’m a man a man amongst other men where, you know, we we just can’t be tough and gritty all the time. You know, we spend so much time together. It’s like we got to find those times to be, you know, soft and gentle with each other. So, uh, you know, it has been therapeutic just to be here and, you know, see the grief and but really just feel the love that Maran had. Uh, that was one thing that I dealt with and I for the first couple days I felt so guilty because, you know, I loved him so much and I know the love that we had and we expressed it while he was here and I felt like what if what if I was his scapegoat? what if I didn’t say the right thing when I was supposed to? Uh, and so that dawned on me so much, but afterwards, you know, you hear people talking about him and Patrick, man, what you said about him, it made me cry just just hearing the love that he had while he was here, like it eased my mind knowing that, you know, he he heard I love you from people. So, uh, you know, being one of the guys that said it and and being around some other guys that that said it to him, you know, we all just just holding on together and pushing forward. And talking talking a lot to to the other teammates, to your teammates about honoring Maran through your play effective this coming Monday. You know, you know your journey. Everybody knows your journey. Just it’s always going to be a tragedy no matter how it happens. But how how positive does it for you to be able to go on that field on Monday and be able to contribute to honoring him with your play alongside. I don’t take it lightly. I don’t take it lightly at all. And you know, this is one of the best ways we can honor him by, you know, continuing his dream, uh, continuing his legacy and what he wanted that to be. And that was to, you know, play hard, 60 minutes straight, win ball games, you know, and and smile while doing it. So, you know, having that that internal motivation, but, you know, knowing my teammates, knowing like, look, this is a guy that we we counted on big big time. So, we we got to do our job to to feel those footsteps, feel those cleats, and that’s by running, hitting hard, you know, scoring touchdowns, making plays like Marshon Nean, and uh I don’t take that lightly. So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do Monday with the plays I get. How are you going to uh manage your nerves on Monday? I mean, you have to wait all day to finally run out of that tunnel again for the first time in about a year or so. Look, it’s actually crazy because over over the course of this season, like I figured out that I have performance anxiety before games like so, but during that time, I actually I told uh our our psychiatrist like I feel like that’s my my moment to power up. I feel like I’m a transformer when I just start shaking. I feel like that’s the superhero coming out of me. So, I know it’s going to be a lot of uh mixed emotions just by, you know, being happy to be out there knowing that, you know, we we walking out with one less soldier, but also knowing that look, you you waited 365 for this moment again. Uh be blessed. Uh don’t take it lightly. Have fun while you doing it. Shy talked about a pitch count one, guys. Have they talked to you about a pitch count and kind of ramping you up? you know, not necessarily giving you 60 plays. So, I know we talked about it and you know, that’s what you want to do coming off of any injury. I feel like especially for a guy that ain’t played in 300 and something days, just ramping them up and and getting to it. But we already know, man, it’s it’s winning football time. So, uh when the time come, when the situation come, if I if I’m at that play count or that limit, like we already made the the conversation where look, I’m it’s a play that need to be made. I got to be on the field. Thank you, man.

DeMarvion Overshown talks to the media after Friday’s practice to reflect on the life of Marshawn Kneeland, his upcoming season debut on Monday Night Football vs the Las Vegas Raiders, and more.

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