Anthony Olivieri
Elizabeth Merrill
Elizabeth Merrill
ESPN Senior Writer
Elizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.
Western Michigan University police were twice called to perform welfare checks on Marshawn Kneeland while he played for the school, including by coaches who worried about him possessing a gun, according to records obtained by ESPN.
Kneeland, a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, died Nov. 6 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Frisco, Texas. He was 24. The documents obtained by ESPN via an open-records request show that there were concerns about his mental health as early as 2020.
One incident, in June 2023, came 10 months before Dallas picked him in the second round of the NFL draft. Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor and then-defensive coordinator Lou Esposito called police with a “concern that [Kneeland] recently separated from his girlfriend” and that they “wanted to make sure he was mentally fit to possess a firearm,” according to a campus police report.
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“After speaking with Kneeland, he voluntarily turned the firearm into WMUPD for safekeeping until cleared by a counselor,” the officer wrote.
Twelve days later, Kneeland retrieved his gun from police after obtaining a letter from a social worker at the Western Michigan Sindecuse Health Center stating that Kneeland was examined and determined not to be a threat to himself or others, according to the report.
Taylor and Esposito did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday. “WMU’s football program and our greater community are heartbroken by the loss of Marshawn,” according to a statement from the Western Michigan athletic department provided to ESPN. “He was deeply loved and cared for here. Bronco Athletics provides holistic support for all our student-athletes including mental health services with professional counselors. Marshawn made use of those mental health resources during his time at WMU. The entire football staff was proud of Marshawn, who grew to become a captain and a leader in the program, and ultimately a graduate of Western Michigan University.” The counselor named in the report did not respond to messages from ESPN.
In another incident in September 2020, an unnamed friend of Kneeland’s called 911 to express concern for his well-being, and police found Kneeland near train tracks in Kalamazoo.
“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 a report. “Kneeland told me life overall and the lack of playing football at WMU had him feeling down. He told me he had been feeling like this for a while. When asked to clarify how long he felt that way, he did not answer. Kneeland said he does not see a therapist or take any medication for his mental health crisis.”
The report states that Kneeland did not want to seek medical help but that Kent County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the scene sent Kneeland to Borgess Hospital (now Beacon Kalamazoo). The report does not state when or why Kneeland was released from the hospital.
A Cowboys spokesperson declined to answer questions Friday about whether the team had been aware of Kneeland’s previous incidents.
Kneeland’s cousin Nicole Kneeland-Woods, a family spokesperson, told ESPN that she had no knowledge of those incidents. “None at all,” she said.
On Thursday, Kneeland’s family held a private memorial service in Wyoming, Michigan. Kneeland-Woods said it was invitation-only, with family, close friends and some of his coaches.
“Right now for us, it’s just trying to move forward,” she said. “Now we can really start the healing process.”
Texas police found Kneeland’s body in the early morning of Nov. 6 after he had evaded officers during a traffic pursuit, crashed his car and fled on foot. According to a report released Friday by the Texas Department of Public Safety, a trooper saw Kneeland’s car speeding down the highway, sometimes traveling more than 145 miles per hour and making “several unsafe lane changes.” The trooper ultimately lost sight of Kneeland’s car. While officers searched for Kneeland, they said they received information that he had expressed “suicidal ideations.”
