The Dallas Cowboys have a game to play Monday in Las Vegas. It’s a reality of the NFL.
But that doesn’t mean they are simply moving on past the death of Marshawn Kneeland, whose Thursday-morning suicide sent ripples through the entire league and beyond.
The Cowboys will wear decals on their helmets all season to honor their teammate. They will also keep him in their heads and hearts, team owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday in his first public comments since Kneeland died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
More importantly, Jones said the Cowboys will play with the same personality that Kneeland possessed.
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“In memory of what he was all about,” Jones said on 105.3 The FAN (KRLD-FM). “He was very unique in his zest for life. And it was very unique in his passion for the game. … You think about all the times that we’re going to miss him and he’s going to be missed by the people around him. He was just getting started.”
The Cowboys are still dealing with Kneeland’s shocking death from Thursday. Kneeland died by suicide, according to police, after he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound early Thursday morning. He was 24.
Jones said he first received the phone call alerting him of Kneeland’s death in the middle of the night. He said he was devastated.
“Sports emphasizes so many things that we all want, to some degree, to hang our hat on,” Jones said, “but this is a reality check that at the end of the day, the human things of having someone’s company on Earth, being able to be involved with them for the time that … they’re here, all of those things come to mind in times like this.”
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The Cowboys had their first team meeting since Kneeland’s death on Monday. The team, with the added resources of the league and the NFL Player’s Association, offered mental health support for players and staff members.
The Cowboys will also have a private vigil on Tuesday night for players, staff members and their families to honor Kneeland, a team spokesman said.
Cowboys defensive end Solomon Thomas told the team’s website that Monday’s meeting was extremely emotional and impactful.
“Extremely proud of coach [Brian Schottenheimer] for how he conducted today, just bringing therapists in the building, bringing people who we needed in the building and just letting us be our true emotions,” Thomas said. “Giving us a safe place to let everyone know what’s going on inside.”
What’s happening on the inside isn’t always the most evident thing. That’s something Jones spoke about Tuesday. He said Kneeland’s death was not only heartbreaking for him because of how young Kneeland was, but also because of the type of person Kneeland was.
“I just can’t emphasize enough what a positive influence he was out there,” Jones said. “That’s one of the things that makes this loss so, if you will, poignant: because what he was about was life and the very things we admire about it.”
Jones then alluded to the idea that the NFL, in its entirety, is about evaluation. Players are constantly being evaluated by teammates, coaches, front office members, media members and fans. Kneeland, since he was a second-round pick in last year’s draft, was no exception. That idea brought Jones to another thought about Kneeland’s passing.
“Why?” Jones asked. “Why couldn’t we have seen maybe that there were issues that we all have dealt with in all of our lives and that’s the mental aspect of our being. No one gets more attention, no one gets any more scrutiny, no one gets any more critiquing than these guys that play this game. It’s a game that you have to give up yourself when you’re hurting a little bit, or give up yourself when you’re tired, or give yourself when you don’t feel like it. That’s what the accomplishment is on any practice: how’d you do today? Because it’s a demanding game. Well, he lived that life and he lived it every day. He lived it around this team that was looking at him every day, and he lived it around this coaching staff that was talking to him every day. It’s really something to think about when it ends the way it ended: how does that happen?”
Now, the team will be tasked with moving on together — with the memory of Kneeland on their minds.
“We all are having to share the sorrow, all are having to share the different ways or different things that come through your mind,” Jones said.
“It’s not light that as a teammate, Marshawn touched everybody in many different ways. The very definition of team is we love each other, we rely on each other. That’s the ethos of what a team is about.”
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