FRISCO — Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott stood in a locker room Nov. 6 that wasn’t his own, speaking with a heavy heart and something on his mind.
Prescott was at his alma mater, Haughton High School in Louisiana, for the dedication of Dak Prescott Field. The Bucs had a game against St. Louis Catholic the following night — a game they’d ultimately win.
The relationships built in a locker room are special, he said as he pointed to several of his Haughton teammates who were in attendance. His mind then drifted to a player he’s shared a locker room with the past two seasons: Marshawn Kneeland.
“Hug your teammates,” he told the Haughton Bucs, “and tell your teammates you love them. If you’re going through something, don’t be afraid to share it. You and your teammates, whatever you’re going through, you can get through.”
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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke during his first media availability since the death of Marshawn Kneeland at The Star in Frisco on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Kneeland, a defensive end who scored his first NFL touchdown on special teams on Nov. 3, died last week from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 24 years old.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Thursday will mark a week since Kneeland died by suicide. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, speaking for the first time publicly since Kneeland’s death, said he received a phone call that alerted him of reason to be concerned about the Cowboys defensive end. Plano police even did a welfare check on Kneeland before midnight Wednesday. Soon after, at 1:31 a.m. on Thursday, Frisco police found Kneeland dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Schottenheimer spoke somberly on Wednesday as he recounted the week that’s been. He said they won’t move on after the loss of Kneeland — a teammate who had a smile that could drop them to their knees, Schottenheimer said — but they will move forward, together.
“When one guy is hurting, someone else has to pick them up. If the head coach is hurting, someone’s got to pick me up,” he said. “And I’m hurting. I’m hurting. And these guys have picked me up, and I’ve picked them up. That’s what we’re going to continue to do because we love one another.”
Grieving together didn’t happen initially. The Cowboys were on a bye week this past week. Their last meetings had concluded well before the news of Kneeland’s passing started to spread. Schottenheimer, like a doctor making rounds virtually, said he started making as many calls as he could to players and other staff members as they all — together, but separated — tried to make sense of what happened. They had a video call on Thursday that included Dr. Heather Twedell, the team’s mental health and wellness consultant. Still, there was physical distance.
“[But] you’re not together,” Schottenheimer said. “We’re always going to be stronger together. We are stronger together.”
The team reconnected on Monday. The league and the NFL Players Association supplied added resources for the team, including additional mental health professionals. Over the next two days they had meetings and breakout sessions with therapists. They had a breakfast on Tuesday together, too.
“As you can imagine, as you guys can guess, some guys are more open right now than others,” Schottenheimer said. “Some guys, it’s still very raw. Some guys, they don’t want to speak or share.
“We’re asking the right questions to get them to share, so we can help process all the different emotions, but it’s been incredible the support system that we’ve had. Just from our operations people, to the support staff, to the doctors and trainers, to people that have reached out. It’s nonstop. We want for nothing. But we still miss our brother, Marshawn.”
Many do. That was apparent on Tuesday night when the team had a private vigil for Kneeland. Family members of staff and players were invited, and many joined. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke. Schottenheimer spoke. Kneeland’s high school coach, Brandon Kimble, someone who Kneeland once described as his hero, spoke. So did Kneeland’s agent, Jonathan Perzley; his uncle, Preston Kneeland; his adviser, Jay Bass; and the team chaplain, James Evans. His teammates, Osa Odighizuwa and Solomon Thomas, also had words at the vigil.
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Kneeland’s girlfriend, Catalina, also spoke. Schottenheimer announced on Wednesday that she’s pregnant. A memorial fund for Marshawn Kneeland was set up by Kneeland’s family and management team for her and the expected baby. Schottenheimer said they would be taken care of after Kneeland’s passing.
“It’s the one thing that Catalina, his girlfriend, it was very important to her,” Schottenheimer said of the vigil. “Of course these guys are incredible and they showed up in droves to support her.
“We told some stories, shared, laughed, cried. Marshawn loved the words: ‘One love,’ so we talked a lot about love as we grieve. I got a chance to really share a couple of things that I miss the most about Marshawn.”
Moving forward, the Cowboys will try and honor Kneeland with how they play, Schottenheimer said. They have eight games left this season. They’ll wear a decal honoring Kneeland on their helmets for the remainder of it — close to their minds, as his memory surely will be.
“We do this together. We don’t move on, but we do move forward. And we do that together,” Schottenheimer said. “And we do that by locking arms and working and grieving and growing and processing together.”
As a team, which is something Prescott wanted to convey to the Haughton Bucs last week. Together, Prescott said, they’re stronger.
“The problem may seem like a lot to one person,” Prescott said. “But I promise you: to a team? It’s nothing.”
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