Dallas Cowboys plan season-long Marshawn Kneeland tribute after tragic death at 24

Dallas Cowboys players are set to wear helmet decals in remembrance of Marshawn Kneeland for the rest of the season after their teammate's tragic death last week.

Kneeland died by apparent suicide at the age of 24 on Wednesday night, roughly 48 hours after he scored his first NFL touchdown for the Cowboys against the Arizona Cardinals.

The defensive lineman was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after fleeing Texas State troopers when they attempted to stop him for a traffic violation.

According to ESPN, the Cowboys have several tributes planned to honor Kneeland following the devastating news of his passing.

Dallas players will wear special helmets dedicated to him for the remainder of the 2025 season, which they will design themselves.

They are also planning to wear special T-shirts before next week's game against the Raiders in Las Vegas, as well as when they return home to face the Philadelphia Eagles on November 23, which will be their first outing at AT&T Stadium since Kneeland's death.

In addition to a moment of silence the team will also play a video tribute to their late player before taking on the Eagles.

One of Kneeland's teammates revealed the touching tribute that he made for his good friend after the heartbreaking news last week.

Taking to Instagram on Friday, cornerback Josh Butler shared a picture of Kneeland's locker which had an assortment of flowers placed in front of it. 

His caption simply read: 'Love you dawg'. 

The Cowboys have made counselling available for players and staff in the organization as they continue to come to terms with the harrowing news. 

Kneeland's death sent shockwaves across the sport and, on Friday, the NFL asked all teams to hold a moment of silence during their pre-game ceremonies to honor him.

His image was put on the jumbotron before kickoff at some games, while Indianapolis Colts players took a knee in the end zone to honor him before their clash with the Atlanta Falcons in Germany.

It was revealed that troopers attempted to stop Kneeland for a traffic violation on the Dallas North Tollway. However, he reportedly refused to pull over, resulting in a pursuit which ended when the pursuing troopers lost sight of Kneeland's vehicle.

His vehicle was later discovered abandoned after having been in a crash, prompting a search of the immediate area where the football player was found deceased.

Kneeland sent his family a group text saying ‘goodbye’ during the incident, according to a police audio dispatch.

The two-minute segment also revealed his 22-year-old girlfriend Catalina Mancera warned cops he had a gun and she feared he would kill himself.

A distraught relative of Kneeland sensationally blamed police for effectively ‘killing’ him in an exclusive Daily Mail interview.

Jasmine Kneeland revealed her beloved first cousin had been due at a planned family reunion this week in Michigan.

‘I truly think they killed him, I truly do,’ said the 33-year-old cousin at her house in Kneeland’s home city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. ‘Because why else would he run for his life then kill himself in a porta-potty.'

Speaking as if Kneeland were still alive, she fought tears as she continued: ‘Marshawn is not a violent person. He is not a hot head. Something here is just not right. Something made him really scared and he ran.

'This is nothing like him at all. He loves his family. He’s like a big kid. He likes making TikTok videos of the little ones in our family, he likes being around them a lot. He was generous with them, always buying stuff.

'I mean, why would he do something like that all of a sudden? That’s not the person I know. Our family is utterly devastated.’

Kneeland was drafted by the Cowboys out of Western Michigan last year. In nearly two seasons in the NFL, he played in 18 games for Dallas, four of which came as starts. He recorded 26 tackles and one sack.